{"notes_id":"eng_tyndale","book":"ezk","verses":{"1":{"1":"of my thirtieth year: Priests began to minister in the Jerusalem Temple when they were thirty years old. Ezekiel was a priest (see 1:3), but he was with the Judean exiles . . . in Babylon and was therefore unable to serve in the usual ways. Ezekiel’s identity as a priest in exile is significant to the message that follows. The exiles felt cut off from God and from conventional ways of appealing to him in the Temple. In the ancient world, most gods were closely tied to particular lands, so it was easy for those who were removed from the Promised Land to assume that the Lord was no longer interested in them. That God’s word had come to a prophet among the exiles in Babylon showed that God had not forgotten them and still had a future for them. • The Kebar River was probably a large irrigation canal in the Nippur region southeast of Babylon. The Babylonians (Babylonians) had deported the previous occupants because of their Assyrian sympathies and replaced them with exiles from elsewhere in their empire, including Judah. The Babylonians generally resettled peoples by ethnic groups and allowed them to retain their identity, unlike the Assyrians, whose policy of exile was to disperse and scatter populations. This difference later made it possible for the remnant of the exiles of Judah to return to their homeland. Those who had been exiled from the northern kingdom by the Assyrians were not able to return in the same way.","2":"This happened during the fifth year of King Jehoiachin’s captivity: The word of the Lord first came to Ezekiel in 593 BC, while Judah was still a semi-independent state (see Ezekiel Book Introduction, “Setting”). Judah had been subjugated by the Babylonians in 597 BC, and King Jehoiachin had been carried into exile in Babylon at that time. Jehoiachin’s uncle, Zedekiah, ruled Judah as a Babylonian vassal (597–586 BC). Ezekiel dates his prophecy with reference to Jehoiachin’s captivity rather than to Zedekiah’s reign because he seems to have viewed Zedekiah as a stand-in for the lawful king, Jehoiachin. Zedekiah later rebelled against Nebuchadnezzar (2 Kgs 24:20), who besieged the city of Jerusalem (588 BC), destroyed it, and burned the Temple (586 BC).","3":"Ezekiel was a priest by descent and a prophet because the hand of the Lord was upon him. Priests offered sacrifices in the Temple and explained God’s law. Prophets delivered God’s words of blessing or curse to the people and interceded with God for them. Ezekiel’s ministry included aspects of both priestly and prophetic mediation between God and the Israelites.","4":"I saw a great storm: This language speaks of theophany (see study note on 1:4-28) as God appears in judgment. That this fiery presence is coming from the north, the direction from which Israel’s enemies had traditionally come, compounds the perception of danger. God was coming as a mighty warrior, not to rescue his people but to bring judgment against them.","10":"Each had the face of a lion, the greatest of the wild animals; the face of an ox, the greatest of domestic animals; the face of an eagle, the greatest of the birds; and a human face, representing the pinnacle of creation. The guardians of Mesopotamian palaces also combined features of these same four creatures (though not the four faces).","15":"The living creatures were not the only cause for fear—in their midst, Ezekiel saw four wheels that were part of a divine war chariot. Chariots were among the most feared weapons of war in the ancient world.","18":"The wheels were tall and frightening, and they were covered with eyes (cp. 10:12). There was no more hope of hiding from this chariot than of running from it.","28":"rainbow shining in the clouds: This image combines the prospect of judgment with a note of mercy. The storm clouds were going to drop a full load of judgment on God’s sinful people, but a rainbow, the sign of hope that God established after the flood (Gen 9:12-17), would appear also. Although the destruction of Jerusalem and the exile of its people to Babylon would be a severe catastrophe in which many would die, God would not forget his promise to keep a remnant alive. Judgment would not be God’s final word. • When Ezekiel saw the glory of the Lord, he fell face down on the ground as though dead—a common human response to God’s glory (cp. Lev 9:23-24; Num 22:31; 1 Kgs 18:38-39; 1 Chr 21:16; 2 Chr 7:1-3; Matt 17:5-6)."},"2":{"3":"The Lord addressed Ezekiel regularly as son of man (Hebrew ben-’adam, “son of Adam”). This phrase reminded Ezekiel that he was profoundly different from the heavenly beings before whom he stood. In contrast to them, he was a child of the dust, a mere mortal. It also marked him out from the nation of Israel (literally the sons of Israel). They were a rebellious nation, true descendants of Jacob, whose defining characteristic was striving with God and man (Gen 32:28). As a son of Adam, Ezekiel represented a new community of faith, empowered by the Spirit to form a life of radical obedience. He was a sign of hope to the exiles. Jesus is the ultimate son of man who combines in himself the human aspect of the title with the exalted heavenly aspect (Dan 7:13-14; Rev 1:13-20). By obeying where Adam failed, Jesus became the first member of God’s new community of faith. All other children of Adam find hope in him.","6":"Ezekiel’s ministry would be as painful as traversing a thicket of nettles and briers and stinging scorpions.","7":"Ezekiel would not be accountable for the people’s response to the message, only for his own faithful delivery of God’s word.","8":"Ezekiel must not resemble the disobedient and rebellious people around him. The first Adam disobeyed God’s command not to eat the apparently desirable fruit of knowledge (Gen 2:17); Ezekiel was to obey by eating the apparently undesirable words of God."},"3":{"10":"Ezekiel first had to internalize God’s messages himself before delivering them to the exiles among whom he lived.","11":"whether they listen to you or not: The Lord’s message was not subject to debate, negotiation, or rejection; things would happen as he said.","12":"May the glory of the Lord be praised in his place! In the Hebrew text, this exclamation of praise is odd in both placement and grammar. The alternate reading (see textual footnote) is based on emending a single Hebrew letter.","15":"The exact location of Tel-abib in Babylonia has not been determined. • As one of the exiles, Ezekiel was overwhelmed by the prospect of this fearsome judgment. As with Job’s counselors, no words were possible at first, and he sat silently for seven days (see Job 2:13)."},"4":{"3":"The prophet was to take on the role of God in this dramatic scene. The iron griddle set up between him and the city showed that Jerusalem had cut itself off from God. Meanwhile, the prophet was to turn his face aggressively toward the city, showing that God’s attention had not flagged but that he was implacably determined to destroy Jerusalem in the coming siege.","6":"Judah was the community of those in exile, whose sojourn outside the land was represented by the symbolic figure of 40 years. They were a lost generation, just like the generation that spent 40 years in the wilderness for their sin (Num 14:34). • The 430 days of Ezekiel’s confinement (cp. Ezek 4:5) parallel the 430 years that Israel spent in Egypt (Exod 12:40), hinting that there would be a new exodus at the end of the Exile.","7":"Throughout the depiction, Ezekiel continued to represent God. With his arm bared, he stared at the siege of Jerusalem and prophesied her destruction."},"5":{"2":"Ezekiel was to burn one third of the hair to represent those who would die of famine during the siege. He was to chop another third of the hair with a sword to represent those who would die violent deaths. He was to scatter the final third to the wind to represent those who would be sent into exile.","10":"Parents will eat their own children: This horrific prospect was an anticipated consequence of famine (see 2 Kgs 6:26-30), and one of the curses of disobedience (see Lev 26:29)."},"6":{"11":"Ezekiel’s message did not end on the encouraging thought of possible repentance. He returned to the theme of judgment with its three-fold calamity of war and famine and disease.","12":"anyone who survives: See 5:3-4."},"7":{"10":"blossomed to full flower: In their wickedness and pride, the people of Israel were ripe to be plucked (cp. Amos 8:1-2).","11":"Their violence has grown into a rod that will beat them: God would use their own violence to punish them by giving them over to internal strife and conflict (cp. Prov 6:27). Wealth and prestige could not save them against the coming torrent of destruction.","14":"When Israel sounded the trumpet in holy war, the troops would not rally and the enemy would not be terrified, as in the past (see Num 10:9; Josh 6:4-20; Judg 6:34; 7:16-22; Neh 4:18-20).","19":"Even silver and gold, the traditional last resorts in times of crisis, would be unable to save or satisfy their owners. They would dispose of them like worthless trash (literally impurity), something hateful and disgusting that they could not wait to be rid of."},"8":{"1":"We are in the sixth year of King Jehoiachin’s captivity (see study note on 1:2), and fourteen months have elapsed since the opening vision of the book. During most of the intervening time, the prophet had been performing the sign acts of ch 4. Chapters 8–9 depict in visions the same defilement and consequent judgment of Jerusalem that ch 7 lays out in oracles. In this case, the prophet directed the message to the leaders (literally elders) of Judah, who had gathered at Ezekiel’s home. They were probably seeking a word of encouragement and comfort from the Lord (see also 14:1; 20:1), but what they received was a denunciation of the sins of the communities they represented.","10":"The practice of worshiping deities shaped like crawling animals and detestable creatures most likely came from Egypt.","11":"These seventy leaders are a shocking contrast to the seventy leaders of Moses’ day who were given the unique privilege of seeing God (Exod 24:1-11) and were given the same Spirit as Moses (Num 11:16-30). Jaazaniah, the leader of this group, was, ironically, the son of Shaphan, a godly leader who was prominently involved in Josiah’s reforms (2 Kgs 22:3-14). • The incense, intended to ward off dangers from demonic spirits, helped instead to bring God’s judgment upon the land.","16":"The fourth and crowning act of idolatry took place in the very heart of the Temple complex, in the inner courtyard of the Lord’s Temple, as close as anyone could approach to the Temple building without actually entering it. • The twenty-five men . . . worshiping the sun were possibly priests, as none but priests should have had access to this area, though they might have been non-priests flaunting the rules of access. Though physically closer to the Lord’s presence than anyone else, they had turned their backs to the sanctuary of their Creator. Instead of worshiping him, they worshiped what he had created (cp. Rom 1:25)."},"9":{"3":"The glory of the God of Israel, the visible manifestation of his presence, now began to depart from the defiled Temple. First, it rose up from between the cherubim, that is, from above the Ark in the Most Holy Place, where it normally rested. From there, it moved to the entrance to the Temple, ready to leave its former throne.","7":"Defile the Temple! Unlike Queen Athaliah, who was dragged out of the Temple before she was executed so that her blood would not defile the holy site (2 Kgs 11:15-16), these idolaters were to be killed in the Temple, which was already so defiled by their idolatry that nothing sacred was left there. Without God’s holy presence, concern for the sanctity of the building was an empty gesture.","8":"Ezekiel feared that he might be the only person left after the Lord expressed his fury.","11":"I have done as you commanded: The remnant had been successfully marked to save them from the wrath to come (9:3-4)."},"10":{"12":"covered with eyes: The elders’ earlier statement that “the Lord doesn’t see us” (8:12) was foolish and false."},"11":{"13":"The judgment that the Lord pronounced occurred immediately. • O Sovereign Lord, are you going to kill everyone in Israel? If those who still remained in the land were destined for such comprehensive destruction, who would be God’s people?","17":"The exile in Babylon would last only until God had exercised his judgment. After this, there would be a new exodus of God’s people from the nations where they had been scattered back to the land of Israel. Their land, which was currently being stolen from them by those who remained in Judah, would be restored to them.","19":"The external change in the fortunes of God’s people would be matched by an internal change; their singleness of heart would mark undivided loyalty to the Lord and replace their wayward affections of the past. A tender, responsive heart (literally a heart of flesh) would replace their stony, stubborn heart (literally the heart of stone), and in place of the old idolatrous spirit they would receive a new spirit (see 36:26-27).","20":"Their changed hearts and spirits would enable the Lord’s people to obey his decrees and regulations so that the goal of the covenant relationship—people living with their God in their midst—might at last be achieved. The new heart and new spirit promised here to God’s people has become a reality (Heb 8:8-13). Through the outpouring of the Spirit at Pentecost, God’s people have become a new creation (2 Cor 5:17).","21":"Those who remained in the land would reap what they had sown. God would repay them fully for their sins, especially those involving vile images and detestable idols."},"12":{"16":"The unhappy few survivors would confess all their detestable sins to their captors, not necessarily in repentance, but in recognition that the Lord had acted justly in judgment against them.","22":"Ezekiel’s hearers were so reluctant to open their ears to the message of the prophets that they had coined a proverb to express their skepticism."},"14":{"8":"Instead of answering these people through a false prophet with a word of divine guidance, the Lord would answer them directly with a terrible act of judgment, thus eliminating them from among his people. Whether this indicates death or excommunication, these half-hearted leaders would be removed from the covenant community, the only place where true life is to be found.","11":"The goal of God’s judgment was not the total destruction of the exiles but their salvation, so that the people of Israel would learn not to stray from the Lord.","14":"Noah, Daniel, and Job: Each of these men was famous for standing firm in the midst of a wicked generation. If anyone could merit a stay of judgment from God, they could. However, even if a land contained these three outstanding men of God, their righteousness would not suffice to save even their closest relatives from the coming disaster (14:20). How much less would it save a rebellious country! • Since the Hebrew spelling of the name Daniel (Hebrew Dani’el; also in 28:3) is slightly different from that of the biblical prophet Daniel (Hebrew Daniyye’l), who was Ezekiel’s younger contemporary in Babylon, some have proposed that Ezekiel was referring to a legendary pagan hero named Danel. However, minor variations in the spelling of names are common in the Hebrew Old Testament. Ezekiel and his hearers would certainly have known of the biblical prophet Daniel as a model of righteousness and wisdom. It is unlikely that a prophet as radically outspoken against idolatry as Ezekiel would have picked a pagan figure like Danel to represent unparalleled righteousness and wisdom. So Ezekiel is most likely referring to the prophet Daniel.","21":"Jerusalem was worse off than the hypothetical country of 14:12-20 in two respects. First, Jerusalem did not have Noah, Daniel, and Job; instead, the city was filled with unrighteous people. Second, it would not be hit with one single judgment plague but with all four of these dreadful punishments at once. It is therefore not surprising that all her people and animals would be destroyed."},"15":{"6":"The people of Jerusalem are like grapevines: Cp. Ps 80:8-9; Isa 5:1-7; Jer 2:21; John 15:1-6. • If grapevines grow among the trees of the forest, they do not bear fruit because they lack sufficient sunlight.","7":"Anyone who escaped from one fire of God’s judgment (probably a reference to the defeat of Judah by Nebuchadnezzar in 597 BC; 2 Kgs 21:1-4) would simply fall into another (the destruction of Jerusalem in 586 BC).","8":"unfaithful: See 6:9; 16:17; Hos 2. Jerusalem had gone after idols instead of faithfully serving the true God. Such behavior broke the covenant between the Lord and his people, with the inevitable result that the land would become desolate."},"16":{"8":"At this time, the Lord wrapped his cloak around her, an act that represented a commitment to marriage (cp. Ruth 3:9). The Lord made a covenant with Jerusalem, and in the terms of the metaphor, he married her. When the Lord entered into a covenant with David and his descendants, he also chose Jerusalem as the place for his name to be honored (see 1 Kgs 9:3-4; Ps 132)."},"17":{"10":"In Judah, the east wind blows from the desert and is therefore hot and dry."},"18":{"6":"does not . . . have intercourse with a woman during her menstrual period: See study note on 36:17; see also Lev 15.","7":"Borrowers might be required to give objects as security to ensure that the loan would be repaid. However, if the object was an outer garment (which might be a poor man’s only valuable possession), it had to be returned before nightfall so that he could remain warm at night (see Exod 22:26-27).","8":"Lending money with interest to those in need was outlawed because of the temptation it presented to abuse the borrower (see Exod 22:25)."},"19":{"10":"The vine is evidently Judah, whom the Lord had planted under optimum conditions."},"20":{"23":"Because of Israel’s history of refusing to keep the Lord’s decrees or obey his regulations, God determined to scatter them among all the nations.","26":"The Israelites even gave their firstborn children as offerings to the god Molech. This exactly reversed the Exodus, which freed the Israelites, the Lord’s “firstborn son” (Exod 4:22), to offer pure worship in the Promised Land.","46":"turn and face the south (literally turn toward Teman): Teman was a town in Edom, southeast of Judah. • The Negev was southwest of the Dead Sea.","47":"A green tree does not normally burn easily, whereas a dry tree provides easy kindling. This fire of judgment would be so intense that it would burn all kinds of trees."},"21":{"12":"cry out and wail: Ezekiel would represent the people’s response to the judgment.","21":"Omens were supposedly signs from the gods that were obtained through divination. • cast lots by shaking arrows . . . inspect the livers: These were common methods of seeking omens from the gods."},"22":{"7":"Foreigners are forced to pay for protection: Cp. Exod 22:21; 23:9; Lev 19:33-34; Deut 10:18-19.","10":"fathers’ wives: See Lev 18:7-8. • force themselves on women who are menstruating: See Lev 15:19-24.","16":"when I have been dishonored among the nations because of you: Having his people scattered among the nations instead of dwelling in the land of promise inevitably dishonored the Lord, since it appeared that he was unable to give them what he had promised. However, the Lord was willing to endure that dishonor so that his forgetful people could learn to remember him."},"23":{"2":"sisters . . . daughters of the same mother: They were descendants of the same nation, and their lives were essentially parallel. Even their names, Oholah and Oholibah, sound similar.","3":"They became prostitutes by worshiping false gods.","4":"Marriage is commonly used in the Bible as a symbol for the covenant relationship between God and his people (e.g., Isa 54:1-8; Eph 5:22-33). Adultery symbolizes Israel’s spiritual unfaithfulness (e.g., Hos 1–3). God makes his covenants in spite of, not because of, his people’s character (Rom 5:6-11)."},"24":{"2":"Ezekiel had been warning the people of this event, and it had now finally arrived (see also 2 Kgs 25:1-2). • is beginning his attack against (literally is leaning on): The same terminology was used when a worshiper pressed his hands on the animal he had brought to be sacrificed (Lev 1:4; 3:2). Jerusalem was thus identified as the sacrificial lamb to be slaughtered to the glory of God.","3":"The people of Jerusalem were rebels against their treaty with Babylon and against their covenant with the Lord."},"26":{"1":"February 3, 585 BC was about seven months after the fall of Jerusalem.","2":"Like its neighbors, Tyre rejoiced over the fall of Jerusalem, which eliminated a rival trading center and potentially opened up new trade routes and markets for Tyre."},"27":{"7":"Elishah refers to part of Cyprus.","10":"Persia, Lydia, and Libya: Persia was far to the east over land, while Lydia was northwest in what is now Turkey. Libya was southwest on the shore of the Mediterranean.","11":"Helech is Cilicia, the area around Tarsus on the northeast shore of the Mediterranean. • The location of Gammad is less certain, but it may have been in northern Syria.","12":"Tarshish was in the distant west, possibly in Spain.","15":"Dedan was a central Arabian oasis (see also 27:20), but it might also refer to a coastal region north of Tyre.","17":"Minnith, located in Transjordan (the area east of the Jordan River), was a well-known source of wheat.","18":"Helbon was a town ten miles north of Damascus. Zahar may have been nearby, although its exact location is unknown.","19":"Greeks from Uzal: Uzal may have been a town in the foothills of Anatolia. • Cassia and calamus were expensive perfumes.","22":"Sheba was a kingdom in southwest Arabia. The location of Raamah is uncertain, but it was always associated with Sheba.","23":"Haran, Canneh, Eden, and Asshur were all located in Mesopotamia (modern Iraq). Kilmad is otherwise unattested in ancient sources and may be a scribal error for “all Media” (the region northeast of Mesopotamia).","26":"Though apparently unsinkable, this rich and heavily laden merchant ship was no match for the mighty eastern gale, the army of Babylon.","36":"Tyre’s former occupants and her former trading partners join the lament for her lost way of life. This panel, like the previous one, ends with the statement that Tyre has come to a horrible end and will exist no more (cp. 26:21)."},"28":{"8":"The clearest demonstration that the prince of Tyre was a mortal man and not a divine being came when he was put to death by the Babylonians. His final resting place would not be in the heights with the gods, but in the pit, the residence of the dead. Like the city of Tyre, the prince of Tyre would die in the heart of the sea (cp. 27:26-27).","10":"will die like an outcast: Literally will die the death of the uncircumcised. He would perish apart from a covenant relationship with God (cp. Gen 17:10-14)."},"29":{"1":"This day in the tenth year since the exile of Jehoiachin was approximately one year after the beginning of the siege of Jerusalem.","21":"Even in these oracles against the nations, God’s primary interest was in his own people. He would match the downward turn in Egypt’s fortunes by commensurately reviving Israel. • I will cause the ancient glory of Israel to revive: Literally I will cause a horn to sprout for the house of Israel. A horn was a common symbol of strength and dignity (see Ps 132:17, where “power” represents the same Hebrew word; cp. Dan 7:7-8; 8:3). This restoration of Israel’s glory would in turn validate Ezekiel’s status as a true prophet, and he would be respected as he deserved. As a prophet, Ezekiel had fought a hard campaign in the Lord’s service and had seen little public reward or recognition from his hearers. In the end, people would see that Ezekiel was indeed a true prophet, something that Nebuchadnezzar’s failure to conquer Tyre may have called into question."},"30":{"12":"I will dry up the Nile River: Egypt was completely dependent on the Nile for its prosperity, so having the Nile dry up would threaten the Egyptians’ livelihoods.","14":"The location of Zoan is modern Tanis in the eastern part of the Nile delta, near where the Israelites had once worked as Pharaoh’s slaves. • Thebes was the sacred city of the god Amon and the capital of Upper Egypt in the south (so called because it was up the Nile River).","15":"Pelusium was a fortress town on the northeastern frontier of Egypt.","17":"of Heliopolis and Bubastis: These cities were located in the Nile delta.","18":"Tahpanhes was a fortress town on the northeastern frontier of Egypt. • dark day: Egypt would see its light turned to darkness when God came to judge it, as in the Exodus plague (Exod 10:21-23).","19":"At the end of this terrible judgment, the Egyptians would once again recognize God’s existence and power, just as they had at the time of the Exodus. God’s strength and reality are ultimately undeniable, even by those who do not bow before him."},"31":{"6":"Like a great tree, Assyria provided shelter for all of the birds and wild animals of the earth. This tree was more splendid than all the trees in the garden of God (that is, the garden of Eden), with a God-given beauty and stature reminiscent of the prince of Tyre in ch 28. Assyria’s power was once so great that all the great nations of the world lived in its shadow.","15":"The mourning over the great tree, Assyria, matched its great size. • The tallest cedar trees of the ancient world were found in Lebanon. • To be clothed . . . in black meant wearing garments of mourning.","18":"The point of this extended analogy finally emerges. Although Egypt’s strength and glory were great, it would be destroyed just as Assyria had been, and it would be disgraced along with the other nations that trusted in themselves and in their own greatness."},"32":{"1":"On March 3: This event occurred two months after the exiles in Babylon received word of Jerusalem’s fall (see 33:21).","14":"The great sea monster (32:2) would no longer thrash around in the stream, stirring up mud like an irate crocodile. After Pharaoh’s demise, the waters of Egypt would flow again as smoothly as olive oil, with the untroubled serenity of death."},"33":{"21":"A survivor arrived from Jerusalem, bringing eyewitness testimony of the city’s fall. This news took more than five months to reach the exiles.","22":"The news of Jerusalem’s fall was a turning point for Ezekiel. His voice returned (see 3:26; 24:25-27), and he was finally able to speak freely. There was new hope for God’s people."},"36":{"2":"The ancient heights of Israel could not be stolen by their enemies because the Lord had given them to his people.","17":"Covenant curses had come to Israel because God’s people had defiled . . . their own land by their sinful behavior. • A menstrual cloth became polluted by contact with a woman’s monthly flow of blood. This natural process was not sinful, but it was defiling in the same way that any loss of bodily life-fluids such as blood, sweat (see study note on 44:17-19), or semen made people ceremonially unclean (see Lev 15).","18":"Israel had made the land unfit for God’s presence through murder and the worship of idols. As a result of their covenant breaking, they were expelled from the land and scattered among the nations (see Deut 29:22-28).","20":"This scattering also brought shame on the Lord’s holy name. It was not so much the behavior of the exiles that robbed the Lord of his glory, but the very fact that they were in exile, insofar as it made the surrounding nations conclude that Israel’s God had been unable to keep them safe in his own land.","25":"It was not enough to bring Israel back to the land; they would also become a new, transformed Israel. God would sprinkle them with clean water to cleanse them from all of the impurities that had defiled the land. Such sprinkling with water was a routine part of Jewish purification ceremonies (see Num 19); it symbolized a fresh start, with their old sins washed away.","26":"The Lord’s renewal of his people was not merely an outward cleansing; the Lord would give Israel a new heart and a new spirit (11:19; 18:31). The heart and spirit are the sources of the thoughts and will that underlie action. Their stony, stubborn heart would now become a tender, responsive heart, ready to serve the Lord. The spirit of rebellion would be replaced with a spirit of obedience."},"37":{"2":"This death scene seemed hopeless; these were not recently expired corpses but miscellaneous bones, scattered everywhere across the ground and . . . completely dried out. This scene symbolized the attitude of the people. Their hopes for themselves were not merely dead; they were dismembered and desiccated.","3":"Son of man, can these bones become living people again? The expected answer was no, but Ezekiel knew that God’s power is unlimited, so he turned the question back to God. The real issue was not whether the Lord was able to make these bones live, but whether it was his will to do so.","14":"The Lord would put his life-giving Spirit within his people. If the sovereign Lord had determined to raise them, no dryness on their part would hold him back.","19":"The sovereign Lord would accomplish the reunification of Israel by his own hand."},"38":{"4":"Gog’s rebellion would be under God’s complete control. Though they would regard themselves as free-willed aggressors, they would actually be prisoners with hooks in their jaws (cp. 29:4).","8":"A long time from now (literally after many days) . . . In the distant future (literally in the end of the years): This encounter is described as a climactic final battle that will precede a final state of peace. There are a variety of views as to whether this final battle is a literal event at the end of history or a literary depiction of the Lord’s protection of his permanently embattled people. Either way, the point remains that when the Lord’s favor rests upon his people, no one and nothing can separate them from that protection, even the most all-out assault of evil.","9":"roll down on them like a storm: This is reminiscent of the threatening imagery of ch 1, when God was Israel’s enemy. At that time, Israel looked to the surrounding rebellious nations for protection; this time, Israel would look to God for protection from the nations.","10":"The Lord’s “hook” in Gog’s “jaw” (38:4) would consist of Gog’s own wicked scheme to destroy the defenseless and unsuspecting Israelites and capture their plunder (cp. Ps 76:10).","13":"The merchant nations of the world, from Sheba and Dedan in the east to Tarshish in the west, would line up to market the spoils from the apparently sure victory of Gog and his allies.","17":"Gog was not the prophesied “enemy from the north” of Jer 4–6 that God was talking about long ago. Those prophecies had already found their fulfillment in the devastation that King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon had wreaked on Judah."},"39":{"2":"I will turn you around and drive you: The Lord would be bringing Gog against Israel in order to break him.","11":"The people would need to gather the plunder and bury the bodies of the slain soldiers. These corpses would otherwise defile the holy land, for contact with a corpse made a person ritually unclean. There were so many of these corpses that a vast graveyard would be required, big enough to fill an entire valley that would now be known as the Valley of Gog’s Hordes.","17":"God would also provide his own disposal team of birds and wild animals, which he would gather for his great sacrificial feast."},"40":{"2":"a very high mountain: Revelations from God often took place on mountaintops in the Old Testament. Moses received God’s law and the design for the Tabernacle at Mount Sinai (Exod 19–40), and he viewed the Promised Land that he would never enter from Pisgah Peak (Deut 34:1-4). Similarly, on this mountaintop Ezekiel met with God and saw the wonderful future that God had prepared for his people, even though he would not live to experience it.","3":"a man whose face shone like bronze: An angelic guide would host Ezekiel’s tour of the Temple. The bronze color is reminiscent of the heavenly creatures described in the opening vision (see 1:7). Unlike the guide for his previous visionary tour of the earthly Temple in chs 8–11, this guide was armed only with a linen measuring cord and a measuring rod, implements of construction rather than destruction. Measurement is a key theme in the chapters that follow, enabling the prophet to highlight the importance of certain parts of the Temple by making them larger and more precisely determined than other parts.","5":"a wall completely surrounding the Temple area: Walls regulate and define space, marking an “inside” and an “outside.” This wall was substantial; its function was to separate the “profane” area outside the Temple from the holy area inside so that this crucial distinction would never again be blurred (see 22:26).","7":"Six guard alcoves lined the inside of the gates, three on each side, confirming their defensive significance. These gates were similar in layout to those excavated at Hazor, Megiddo, and Gezer, but substantially larger in size.","16":"The carved palm trees recall the rich fertility of the Garden of Eden (see also 1 Kgs 6:29).","22":"The steps that led up to each gate heightened the sense of their inaccessibility. The inner, more sacred areas of the Temple were significantly higher in elevation than the outer parts, which provided another dimension of separation.","43":"The hooks might be used to store the knives and implements mentioned in 40:42.","46":"The Lord at last rewarded the loyalty of Zadok (see 44:15) by decreeing that his descendants were the only ones permitted to approach the Lord to minister to him. Access to God in this Temple was restricted to those whom the Lord had chosen and who were fit to enter the holy space.","47":"The themes of sacrifice and restricted access coalesce in the summary of the dimensions of the inner courtyard. It was a perfect square, the shape of holy spaces throughout the Old Testament (see Exod 26:1-35; 1 Kgs 6:20), 175 feet on each side. Meanwhile, at its center stood the altar of sacrifice, the only piece of furniture located in that space. Holy sacrifices had to be offered without threat of defilement to ensure the continuing presence of the Lord once he returned to fill the Temple with his glory.","49":"Outside the entry room were square (see 41:21) columns of unspecified function, just as in Solomon’s Temple (1 Kgs 7:15-22)."},"41":{"22":"The only piece of furniture was an altar made of wood, the table that stands in the Lord’s presence. This is presumably where the bread of the presence was daily laid out by the priests before the Lord (Exod 25:30). The description of this table as an altar highlights the focus on sacrifice in Ezekiel’s Temple."},"42":{"1":"Having reached the center of the Temple complex, Ezekiel began traveling outward again."},"43":{"12":"Absolute holiness on Israel’s part was required if a holy God were to dwell in their midst forever.","17":"This altar was approached by steps going up the east side. This reversal of the normal ancient Near Eastern practice of having the steps approach from the west was possibly to avoid any hint of sun worship (see 8:16).","25":"The procedure for the second day was repeated for seven more days to complete the eight-day purification cycle. A similar procedure was followed when Solomon’s Temple was consecrated (2 Chr 7:8-9)."},"44":{"2":"The outer east gate must remain perpetually closed because the Lord had now returned to his Temple and would never again leave it. He had also sanctified this gate by going through it, and no one else was ever to use it.","3":"Though the prince had the significant privilege of being the only one allowed to feast in the Lord’s presence inside the east outer gateway, he was restricted to entering and leaving the portico from the outer court. He was not to enter from outside the Temple complex by going through the gate, as the Lord had; the earthly ruler is a man, not God, and he must submit to God. The prince must also never forget that the Temple is God’s palace, not his own private chapel.","9":"No foreigners: This was not a blanket prohibition against non-Israelite access to the sanctuary. It only affected those who had not been circumcised and have not surrendered themselves to the Lord. Genuine converts could be part of the new Israel (see 47:22-23).","10":"when Israel strayed away from me to worship idols: The people had a long history of failing to follow God’s plan for worship, including the specific sin of employing foreigners as temple guards (44:8).","31":"In their radical separation from the realm of death, they could not eat any bird or animal that died a natural death or was attacked by another animal."},"45":{"7":"On both sides of the larger sacred area (45:1-6), the remainder of the holy portion was assigned to the prince. The same principle of graded access that operated in the Temple was applied more broadly to the surrounding land. The Temple would be the geographical and spiritual heart of the new Israel. The land would be divided into strips running east to west, orienting the whole nation along the sacred east–west axis of the Temple. The city and the prince would still be important in the new economy, but they would no longer be at the center. The Lord was Israel’s King, and his dwelling place would be the hub of their existence."},"46":{"1":"The east gateway between the inner and outer courtyards would open once a week for the Sabbath, once a month for new moon celebrations, and when the prince offered voluntary burnt offerings or peace offerings (46:12). The east gate between the outer courtyard and the outside world was never to be opened again (44:2-3).","2":"The prince would have the unique privilege of going through the eastern gateway to the inner courtyard as far as the entry room to worship. This symbolized that God regarded him as more significant than the common people, but that he was still not fit to stand in God’s presence apart from mediation by the priests.","3":"The ordinary Israelites, the common people, would be allowed to climb the stairs to the threshold to offer their worship when the gate was open on the Sabbath and the first day of the month; only then would they be able to see into the inner court. Otherwise, they were kept away from it.","12":"The voluntary burnt offering or peace offering was in addition to the regular daily offerings of meat, grain, and oil that symbolized the regular table fellowship and communion that had now been restored between God and his people."},"47":{"1":"The source of the stream was within the Temple. • to the right of the altar on its south side: This location in Solomon’s Temple was occupied by the Sea, a massive bronze pool that provided the water needed for cleansing (1 Kgs 7:23, 39). It also symbolized the subjugation of the forces of chaos (often represented by the sea) in the ordered cosmos of the Temple. In Ezekiel’s vision, the static Sea had been transformed into a dynamic, life-giving river (cp. Gen 2:10-14; Ps 46).","10":"From En-gedi, a town on the west side of the Dead Sea, to En-eglaim, a town on the east side, the Dead Sea would be brought from death to life. This water, so full of salt and other minerals that it is devoid of life, would teem with enough fish to support a major fishing industry.","11":"The useful salt deposits previously gathered from the Dead Sea area would not be lost—the marshes and swamps would still be salty.","12":"Alongside this river of life, fruit trees of all kinds will grow. Like the righteous of Ps 1, their leaves will not wither, and they will bear their fruit in season. They will be so full of life that they will bear a new crop every month, and the leaves will be medicinal. The river’s fertility brings concrete blessings to all of God’s people. Wherever the waters of this river flow, there will be life."},"48":{"35":"To cap off the whole vision, the city was given a new name, The Lord Is There. Although the Lord had once departed from Jerusalem and ordered its destruction because of its gross idolatry and bloodshed, the new city was so much a part of the new order of things that it could receive that name. This also implied that the bloody city condemned in earlier chapters had now been replaced by a holy city, fit for God to dwell among representatives of all twelve of Israel’s tribes (cp. Isa 4:2-6; Zech 14:20-21). Thus the prophecy of Ezek 37:26-27 finally reaches its conclusion and its fulfillment, as God establishes his sanctuary in the midst of his people forever, just as he promised."}},"ranges":[{"start_chapter":1,"start_verse":1,"end_chapter":3,"end_verse":27,"contents":"Old Testament prophetic books often begin with a “call narrative” that gives details of the prophet’s commissioning to his office (e.g., Jer 1:4-19). The prophetic call narrative demonstrated that the prophet’s words were legitimate, showing that he spoke as the Lord’s ambassador. It often introduced themes that his prophecy would address in greater detail, just as the overture to a symphony introduces the musical motifs that form the basis for the composition that follows. The focus of Ezekiel’s call narrative is the Lord’s impending judgment of his people."},{"start_chapter":1,"start_verse":1,"end_chapter":1,"end_verse":3,"contents":"The opening verses locate the prophet’s ministry among the exiles from Judah who had been carried off to Babylon."},{"start_chapter":1,"start_verse":4,"end_chapter":1,"end_verse":28,"contents":"The language of this opening vision is that of theophany, a physical manifestation of God (see study note on Deut 1:33). It was difficult for Ezekiel to describe what he saw, as is evident from his frequent use of “looked like,” “something like,” and “seemed.” The overall effect is nonetheless clear and menacing; verbs of motion are combined with symbols of judgment to warn that God’s judgment will inevitably fall upon rebellious Jerusalem."},{"start_chapter":1,"start_verse":5,"end_chapter":1,"end_verse":9,"contents":"At the center of the fiery cloud were four living beings, each having four faces and four wings. Four is a number of completeness; these composite creatures summed up the created order."},{"start_chapter":1,"start_verse":11,"end_chapter":1,"end_verse":14,"contents":"These fiery creatures had both wings and legs, enabling them to move like . . . lightning in any direction. No one could run away from such fearsome beasts. In the similar vision in ch 10, they are identified as cherubim, agents of divine judgment."},{"start_chapter":1,"start_verse":16,"end_chapter":1,"end_verse":17,"contents":"It would be impossible to build a physical chariot in which each wheel had a second wheel turning crosswise within it. This picture depicts a chariot that could travel equally well in any direction, symbolizing God’s freedom of movement in judgment."},{"start_chapter":1,"start_verse":19,"end_chapter":1,"end_verse":21,"contents":"The chariot was infused with the spirit of the living beings, and the whole assembly moved as a single entity."},{"start_chapter":1,"start_verse":22,"end_chapter":1,"end_verse":25,"contents":"The surface like the sky, glittering like crystal separated the realm of God’s presence (heaven) from the realm of humanity (earth). References to the sky, the cherubim (see study note on 1:11-14), and the rainbow (1:28) remind us of the opening chapters of Genesis and suggest that the narrative about to unfold concerns the destruction of what God had created, followed by its re-creation. Just as God destroyed the world he had made with a flood and then restored it through Noah, Ezekiel’s world was also being unmade and restored."},{"start_chapter":1,"start_verse":26,"end_chapter":1,"end_verse":27,"contents":"On the throne of God was a figure whose appearance resembled a man. Ezekiel’s ability to describe the scene was overwhelmed by the magnificence of the sight. This human form revealed the Lord’s overpoweringly radiant glory that had once filled the Tabernacle and the Temple as a visible manifestation of God’s presence (cp. Dan 7:9-10; Rev 1:12-17). While God’s awesome presence in human form comforts his faithful people, it signifies inevitable judgment for those who are disobeying him. This vision presages God’s coming to earth as a man in Jesus Christ."},{"start_chapter":2,"start_verse":1,"end_chapter":2,"end_verse":10,"contents":"Being a prophet was neither a career choice nor an occupation passed down from father to son like the priesthood. God called prophets to their task, and the story of their call is often included in their writings (see, e.g., Isa 6; Jer 1:4-19; Jon 1:1-2)."},{"start_chapter":2,"start_verse":1,"end_chapter":2,"end_verse":2,"contents":"Stand up: God empowered Ezekiel by the Spirit so that he was able to obey this command as God set him on his feet. What God would later do for the people as a whole (cp. 37:4-10), he did first for the prophet."},{"start_chapter":2,"start_verse":4,"end_chapter":2,"end_verse":5,"contents":"Israel was stubborn and hard-hearted—they would not heed Ezekiel, whose message would bear little immediate fruit. However, they would know that they had a prophet among them who was speaking God’s word."},{"start_chapter":2,"start_verse":9,"end_chapter":3,"end_verse":1,"contents":"There was so much judgment on the scroll that both sides were covered with writing. Ezekiel had to declare the curses for covenant breaking (Deut 28:15-68) to a rebellious people (cp. Zech 5:2-4). The scroll covered with messages of judgment is an apt image of the content of Ezek 1–24."},{"start_chapter":3,"start_verse":2,"end_chapter":3,"end_verse":3,"contents":"Although the scroll looked bitter, Ezekiel found it as sweet as honey when he ate it. Adam’s disobedience turned bitter, but Ezekiel’s obedience became pleasant and satisfying. Psalm 119:103 also describes God’s words as “sweeter than honey.”"},{"start_chapter":3,"start_verse":4,"end_chapter":3,"end_verse":7,"contents":"Ezekiel was sent to God’s people, the people of Israel, whom one would expect to be eager to listen to the Lord. However, it would have been easier for the prophet if he had been sent to people with strange and difficult speech who could not understand him. This hard-hearted community refused to obey the Lord."},{"start_chapter":3,"start_verse":8,"end_chapter":3,"end_verse":9,"contents":"God would make Ezekiel as thoroughly persistent in presenting God’s message as the people were in rejecting it."},{"start_chapter":3,"start_verse":14,"end_chapter":3,"end_verse":15,"contents":"The Spirit lifted me up: Ezekiel was brought back from his visionary experience to the ordinary world of the exiles. Ezekiel regularly experienced the powerful impact of the Spirit’s transporting him to another location (see also 8:3; 11:1, 24; 40:1-3; 43:5). • After the Spirit departed from him, Ezekiel experienced the conflicting emotions associated with his commission. As a prophet who spoke for God, he began to feel the bitterness and turmoil of God’s anger against the sins of his people."},{"start_chapter":3,"start_verse":16,"end_chapter":3,"end_verse":19,"contents":"Ezekiel was called to be a watchman, a familiar image for Old Testament prophets (see Isa 56:10; Jer 6:17; Hos 9:8). The watchman was a lookout for the community. He was responsible for providing advance warning of approaching enemies so that the people could take refuge in time. In this case, the enemy they had to fear was not a human invader but God. As difficult as his task was, the blood of those he failed to warn would be on his head if he remained silent."},{"start_chapter":3,"start_verse":20,"end_chapter":3,"end_verse":21,"contents":"The prophet spoke to two classes of people, the righteous and the wicked. Ezekiel was to express his message indiscriminately, for both the righteous and the wicked would be judged on the basis of their response to his words (cp. Matt 13:3-9, 18-23). Those who heeded him would receive life; those who rejected his message would receive death, even if they had previously been righteous. Faith in the Lord’s word through his prophet was the sole criterion that divided those who would live from those who would die."},{"start_chapter":3,"start_verse":22,"end_chapter":3,"end_verse":23,"contents":"The Lord summoned Ezekiel out into the valley, into a wilderness that was away from other people. • Although this was the second time he had seen the glory of the Lord, it was not something to which Ezekiel had grown accustomed. Its awesome magnificence prostrated him."},{"start_chapter":3,"start_verse":24,"end_chapter":3,"end_verse":25,"contents":"Ezekiel was God’s prisoner, shut . . . in his house and tied with ropes. It is not clear whether these were literal ropes used to express the hostility of his fellow exiles toward the prophet, or a vivid image of their opposition and his restricted mobility among them. His complete captivity was striking, including the limitation placed on his speech (3:26-27); it would be a sign to the people."},{"start_chapter":3,"start_verse":26,"end_chapter":3,"end_verse":27,"contents":"Even Ezekiel’s tongue was under arrest, bound to the roof of his mouth except when God freed it to speak his words of judgment. He was not physiologically incapable of speaking, but his communication was so restricted by God that he could only deliver the message of disaster that God gave him; all other speech was prohibited. This made Ezekiel’s role more limited than that of most prophets, who were free to intercede for and mediate between God and his people. Ezekiel could not speak on their behalf because the time for dialogue between God and his people had passed. No further appeal was possible against the coming judgment. Ezekiel’s speech would be restricted until the news of Jerusalem’s fall arrived (24:27). At that point, with the completion of God’s judgment on his people, the prophet’s tongue would be freed to intercede for them again."},{"start_chapter":4,"start_verse":1,"end_chapter":24,"end_verse":27,"contents":"In words and in mimed actions, the prophet Ezekiel declared the certainty of impending judgment on Jerusalem. God’s people, having broken the terms of the Lord’s covenant with them at Mount Sinai, now faced the curses of death and destruction that were attached to that covenant. Only after these curses had taken effect could there be any hope for the future."},{"start_chapter":4,"start_verse":1,"end_chapter":7,"end_verse":27,"contents":"These chapters focus on words and actions that proclaimed doom to the city of Jerusalem (chs 4–5) and to the surrounding land of Judah (chs 6–7)."},{"start_chapter":4,"start_verse":1,"end_chapter":4,"end_verse":2,"contents":"The first of Ezekiel’s sign acts (see “Prophetic Sign Acts” Theme Note) was to create a detailed tableau depicting Jerusalem . . . under siege."},{"start_chapter":4,"start_verse":4,"end_chapter":4,"end_verse":8,"contents":"The prophet’s second sign act was related to the first, but this time he was to act the roles of both God and victims of the siege. As a siege victim, he was tied up with ropes (4:8) and confined to a single position. Possibly Ezekiel was not confined continually during this 14-month period, but performed this sign on a daily basis. As Ezekiel represented Israel, he was to bear Israel’s sins symbolically by lying on one side, without bringing atonement and forgiveness to Israel."},{"start_chapter":4,"start_verse":4,"end_chapter":4,"end_verse":5,"contents":"Israel indicates the whole covenant community, not just the northern kingdom. The number 390 has been interpreted in various ways. A likely explanation is that 390 represents years, perhaps from early in Solomon’s reign (971–931 BC) to the destruction of Jerusalem (586 BC; see 2 Kgs 25:3-7)."},{"start_chapter":4,"start_verse":9,"end_chapter":4,"end_verse":17,"contents":"The near-starvation diet of eight ounces of food and a jar of water for each day represent siege rations and reflect a desperate situation in which there was not enough of any one kind of grain to make a whole loaf."},{"start_chapter":4,"start_verse":12,"end_chapter":4,"end_verse":13,"contents":"Cooking over human dung would render the bread ceremonially unclean, thus defiling Ezekiel when he ate it. The Israelites had to eat defiled bread in exile, when it was extremely difficult to observe kosher dietary laws. They would be unclean and cut off from the cleansing presence of the Lord."},{"start_chapter":4,"start_verse":14,"end_chapter":4,"end_verse":15,"contents":"The prophet protested that he had never eaten anything unclean. The Lord relented, allowing Ezekiel to cook his food over cow dung and to follow the law regarding disposal of human excrement (see Deut 23:12-14)."},{"start_chapter":5,"start_verse":1,"end_chapter":5,"end_verse":4,"contents":"The prophet was required to perform two further sign acts. First, he used a sharp sword . . . as a razor to shave his head and beard, tangibly demonstrating the destruction described in ch 4 (cp. Isa 7:20). Shaving off a man’s hair implied the loss of his manhood and was a gesture of dishonor (see 2 Sam 10:4-5). Second, Ezekiel weighed the hair he had shaved off into three equal parts to show that God’s measured judgment would take three different forms."},{"start_chapter":5,"start_verse":3,"end_chapter":5,"end_verse":4,"contents":"Ezekiel was to tie just a bit of the hair in his robe to show that a remnant would be safe, but even some of them would die in the fire of exile. Few would survive the multiple catastrophes about to befall God’s people."},{"start_chapter":5,"start_verse":5,"end_chapter":5,"end_verse":6,"contents":"The reason for God’s judgment on his people is made abundantly clear: Israel had broken its covenant relationship with God."},{"start_chapter":5,"start_verse":7,"end_chapter":5,"end_verse":13,"contents":"The covenant between God and his people underlies Ezekiel’s messages. In stating the charges against his fellow Israelites, Ezekiel explicitly draws from the language of the covenant that was made on Mount Sinai and renewed in Deuteronomy. Israel’s refusal to obey God’s decrees and regulations, especially in their worship of detestable idols that defiled the Lord’s Temple, contravened God’s requirements (cp. Lev 26:1-2, 14-15). Consequently, the curses for disobeying the Lord (Lev 26:16-43; Deut 28:15-68) would now come into effect."},{"start_chapter":6,"start_verse":1,"end_chapter":6,"end_verse":14,"contents":"The two oracles of judgment in this chapter (6:2-10 and 6:11-14) present two alternatives—a positive future through repentance, or continued rebellion and a dark future of total annihilation. Either way, the Lord’s power and holiness would be manifested."},{"start_chapter":6,"start_verse":1,"end_chapter":6,"end_verse":3,"contents":"The circle of judgment broadened out from Jerusalem to include the mountains of Israel, which were Israel’s political heartland. This territory had belonged to Israel continuously since the time of Joshua, and it had been infected by idolatry. The hill country had become home to many pagan shrines (literally high places)—raised stone platforms that often housed idols or became the location for sacrifices and pagan festivities. Most predated Israel’s entry into the land, and God had commanded Israel to destroy them (Deut 12:2-3). However, in many cases, the Israelites had permitted them to remain in place, and the political and religious leaders had ignored or even encouraged those who worshiped there."},{"start_chapter":6,"start_verse":4,"end_chapter":6,"end_verse":7,"contents":"The corpses and bones of the dead worshipers scattered around an altar would defile the altar and make it unfit for use. • idols: The Hebrew term for idols (literally round things) probably alludes to dung; when used in this way, it is a term of strong derision."},{"start_chapter":6,"start_verse":8,"end_chapter":6,"end_verse":10,"contents":"A remnant would be scattered among the nations of the world to bear witness to God’s faithfulness to his covenant. They would recognize the reality of their own unfaithful hearts and hate themselves for all their detestable sins, and they will know that God’s threat of calamity on covenant breakers was absolutely serious. Some of those who know that I alone am the Lord might even experience the other side of God’s faithfulness: his swiftness to forgive those who repent. In the book of Exodus, Israel came to know that God is the Lord through his mighty acts of rescue (see Exod 6:7). Unfortunately, Israel’s behavior throughout their history showed that they had forgotten. They would come again to that knowledge through God’s acts of judgment."},{"start_chapter":6,"start_verse":13,"end_chapter":6,"end_verse":14,"contents":"Riblah was located on the northern border of Israel and is well known from other biblical books. At Riblah, Nebuchadnezzar set up his tribunal and executed the sons of Zedekiah and many other leading citizens of Judah (2 Kgs 25:6, 21)."},{"start_chapter":7,"start_verse":1,"end_chapter":7,"end_verse":27,"contents":"Ezekiel 7 contains three messages of doom (7:3-4, 5-9, 10-27). They reminded Judah that their forthcoming destruction was not a random twist of fate but an act of the Lord’s judgment."},{"start_chapter":7,"start_verse":1,"end_chapter":7,"end_verse":2,"contents":"As the prophet unfolded his message, the scope of the threatened judgment kept increasing, like ripples spreading outward from a stone dropped into a pond. Now the judgment he announced was not just for Israel, as in ch 6, but against the whole land, east, west, north, or south. This global judgment upon God’s people would be tantamount to the end of the world. Judgment was no longer imminent, as in the previous oracles; it had arrived."},{"start_chapter":7,"start_verse":3,"end_chapter":7,"end_verse":4,"contents":"There was no hope that God would change his mind. • Then you will know that I am the Lord: When they received exactly what they deserved, the people would recognize the Lord’s power and holiness."},{"start_chapter":7,"start_verse":5,"end_chapter":7,"end_verse":9,"contents":"A second message reiterates the personal nature of the coming judgment. The people would not simply know that God is the Lord, as in 7:4. The Lord, who once showed himself to his people as “the Lord who heals you” (Exod 15:26), had now become “the Lord who strikes you.” The day of the Lord had come (Joel 1:15; Amos 5:18-20)."},{"start_chapter":7,"start_verse":12,"end_chapter":7,"end_verse":27,"contents":"Comprehensive judgment is depicted in two parallel panels, 7:12-18 and 7:19-27. Each begins with the futility of material gain in view of this impending judgment and moves through the arrival of war and its associated horrors to a declaration of universal ineffectiveness, terror, and mourning."},{"start_chapter":7,"start_verse":12,"end_chapter":7,"end_verse":13,"contents":"Commercial transactions would lose their meaning. There would be no such thing as a good deal or a bad deal; buyers and sellers alike would face God’s terrible anger."},{"start_chapter":7,"start_verse":20,"end_chapter":7,"end_verse":22,"contents":"Their formerly precious objects were contaminated and contaminating because they were used to make detestable idols and vile images. • God would hand over his treasured land, the home of his sanctuary (Deut 12:5, 11), to brutal and ruthless pagans. Since Israel had repeatedly failed to distinguish between true and false places of worship, continued in pagan worship at the high places, and even brought idols into the Temple (Ezek 8), God would destroy the pagan centers of worship in the land and even in the Temple in Jerusalem. In the past God had defended Jerusalem against overwhelming odds (see 2 Kgs 18:1–19:37), but now he would abandon her to her well-deserved fate."},{"start_chapter":7,"start_verse":23,"end_chapter":7,"end_verse":27,"contents":"Neither religious authorities (prophets and priests) nor civil leaders (king or prince) could bring the peace the people were looking for. High-born and low-born alike would be helpless in facing their judgment. In the complete absence of guidance and direction, no hope would be left for the people."},{"start_chapter":8,"start_verse":1,"end_chapter":11,"end_verse":25,"contents":"This section depicts the defilement of the Jerusalem Temple (ch 8), which led to its being abandoned by the Lord and subsequently destroyed (9:1–11:13). This abandonment was actually good news for those already in exile, for the Lord was coming to dwell with them, identifying them as the ones who bore hope for the future of God’s people."},{"start_chapter":8,"start_verse":1,"end_chapter":8,"end_verse":18,"contents":"In visionary form, the prophet Ezekiel was shown four ways in which the people were engaged in practices that defiled their land. This vision explains why the presence of the Lord left his sanctuary."},{"start_chapter":8,"start_verse":2,"end_chapter":8,"end_verse":3,"contents":"While the leaders were gathered, Ezekiel saw in a vision what appeared to be a man. The description is similar to the description in 1:26-27. This time, however, Ezekiel was lifted . . . up into the sky and transported . . . to Jerusalem. • appeared to be . . . looked like . . . seemed to be: What Ezekiel saw defied human description (see study note on 1:4-28)."},{"start_chapter":8,"start_verse":3,"end_chapter":8,"end_verse":16,"contents":"God showed Ezekiel four scenes of increasing abomination from the false worship that the people of Israel were performing in the Lord’s Temple. The comprehensiveness of Jerusalem’s defilement may be seen from the varied locations of their acts of idolatry, the kinds of people involved, the deities worshiped, and the varied cultures from which these deities had been imported. It was the ultimate eclectic worship service, with abomination piled upon abomination."},{"start_chapter":8,"start_verse":3,"end_chapter":8,"end_verse":6,"contents":"In the first abomination, the large idol was probably an image of the Canaanite goddess Asherah that had been placed at this gate to guard the city from attack. Most of Jerusalem’s historic enemies came against her from the north, which would explain the idol’s location at the north gate. This idol had made the Lord very jealous because the Lord deserved all honor and worship as Israel’s protector (Ps 121:1-4). The Lord was offended by this idol that purported to protect the Lord’s chosen city."},{"start_chapter":8,"start_verse":7,"end_chapter":8,"end_verse":8,"contents":"The first abomination was very public, and the second was very private. In order to witness it in his vision, the prophet had to dig into the wall to access a hidden doorway."},{"start_chapter":8,"start_verse":12,"end_chapter":8,"end_verse":13,"contents":"The Lord could see what the leaders of Israel were doing, and he revealed these things to his prophet (cp. Luke 12:3)."},{"start_chapter":8,"start_verse":14,"end_chapter":8,"end_verse":15,"contents":"The third abomination was that women were . . . weeping for the god Tammuz at the north gate of the Lord’s Temple. This Babylonian ritual marked the death and descent into the underworld of the god Dumuzi (Tammuz). Every year, this deity was thought to lose his power and then regain it in a cycle that paralleled the annual rhythms of nature. Ritual mourning for Tammuz was intended to hasten the return of fertility to the natural order. Ritual lamentation for a false, dead god had thus been substituted for praise and worship of the true and living God."},{"start_chapter":8,"start_verse":17,"end_chapter":8,"end_verse":18,"contents":"The abominations that the Israelites were committing in the Temple complex were tantamount to thumbing (literally putting the twig [or branch] to) their noses at the Lord. This gesture was at least defiant, and possibly vulgar."},{"start_chapter":9,"start_verse":1,"end_chapter":9,"end_verse":2,"contents":"The prophet did not have to wait long for judgment to come. The Lord summoned his angelic warriors to punish the city, and seven men appeared in response. Six men each carried a deadly weapon, while the seventh was dressed in linen and carried a writer’s case. They stood ready for action in the Temple courtyard, next to the bronze altar where sacrifices were normally offered."},{"start_chapter":9,"start_verse":4,"end_chapter":9,"end_verse":6,"contents":"Just as the man dressed in linen (9:2-3) reenacted the marking of those kept safe at the first Passover (Exod 12:7-13), the angels of destruction reenacted comprehensive judgment (Exod 12:28-30), this time on old and young, girls and women and little children. Not just the firstborn males, as in Egypt, but everyone who did not have the mark that identified them as those who mourned over the sins of the city (cp. Rev 7:1-8) were destroyed."},{"start_chapter":9,"start_verse":9,"end_chapter":9,"end_verse":10,"contents":"The Lord replied that he would fully repay Israel’s sins (but see 9:3-4, 11)."},{"start_chapter":10,"start_verse":1,"end_chapter":10,"end_verse":22,"contents":"The Temple provided an earthly residence where the Lord’s glory could dwell among his people. This central blessing of the covenant could only be maintained if the people were holy. In the face of their defilement, the Lord abandoned his house, leaving it and the surrounding city vulnerable to the impending assault of the Babylonians."},{"start_chapter":10,"start_verse":1,"end_chapter":10,"end_verse":2,"contents":"Almost the same vision of fearsome glory that Ezekiel had seen earlier in Babylonia (ch 1) now appeared to him in the Jerusalem Temple. In a building filled with heavenly symbols, Ezekiel clearly perceived that the living creatures he had seen earlier were cherubim, the enforcers of divine judgment (Gen 3:24). • The burning coals that the priestly figure was instructed to gather showed that the defiled Jerusalem was to be burned by fire, as the city of Sodom had been (see 16:46-50). The implication of the Lord’s abandoning his city was later worked out in history: Several years after this vision, Nebuchadnezzar burned the city of Jerusalem and filled it with corpses."},{"start_chapter":10,"start_verse":3,"end_chapter":10,"end_verse":22,"contents":"As if reluctant to leave, the glory of the Lord (10:4) moved slowly and haltingly, by stages. From above the cherubim in the Most Holy Place, it moved to the entrance of the Temple, paused, then hovered above the cherubim (10:18) and moved to the east gate of the courtyard (10:19), where it again paused. The glory of the Lord later left the city altogether (11:23)."},{"start_chapter":10,"start_verse":19,"end_chapter":10,"end_verse":22,"contents":"From this point on, the city was doomed; God, whose threatening judgment appeared in such fearsome majesty in the opening chapter of Ezekiel, had abandoned it."},{"start_chapter":11,"start_verse":1,"end_chapter":11,"end_verse":11,"contents":"Having given Ezekiel a glimpse of the divine perspective on Jerusalem, the Spirit brought him back to overhear the words of the city’s inhabitants. The wicked counselors asserted that though the assault by the Babylonians (the fire) was troublesome (hot), the defenses of the city (the iron pot) were sufficient to protect them (the meat). These counselors were telling people to build houses—on stolen land (see 11:15, 17)—in which they could live safely. God, however, was determined to judge the wicked."},{"start_chapter":11,"start_verse":8,"end_chapter":11,"end_verse":10,"contents":"God had once rescued his people from foreigners in Egypt, but now he would hand them over to foreigners for judgment."},{"start_chapter":11,"start_verse":15,"end_chapter":11,"end_verse":16,"contents":"Those who remained in the land regarded the exiles as far away from the Lord, with no one to protect their interests in their family land holdings. Relatives (literally men of your redemption) would normally have redeemed Ezekiel’s family property if he fell into debt or other trouble. Since the exiles had been transported as family groups, there was no one left in Judah to guard their inherited properties. • he has given their land to us! Those remaining in the land considered the exiles to be under God’s judgment and their ancestral lands to have been forfeited. The very opposite was true. The future of Israel lay with the far-off exiles, as the Lord had gone into exile with them and would be a sanctuary to them during their time in exile (see 11:22-23)."},{"start_chapter":11,"start_verse":22,"end_chapter":11,"end_verse":23,"contents":"Ezekiel’s vision of the Temple (chs 8–11) concludes with the chariot bearing the glory of . . . God away from the Temple. The glory of the Lord would depart from defiled Jerusalem, go east to Babylon with the exiles, and identify with their suffering (11:16). God’s glory halted temporarily above the mountain to the east of Jerusalem, the Mount of Olives, as if waiting to see the judgment descend upon the rebellious city. Having departed to the east, it would also return from the east to the renewed Temple (ch 43)."},{"start_chapter":12,"start_verse":1,"end_chapter":24,"end_verse":27,"contents":"This section collects diverse prophecies and sign acts that are united in their condemnation of Jerusalem and its leaders."},{"start_chapter":12,"start_verse":1,"end_chapter":12,"end_verse":2,"contents":"The inhabitants of Judah were not the only ones who had stony, stubborn hearts that were reluctant to hear the prophet’s message (11:19). The exiles among whom Ezekiel lived were also rebellious people who would refuse to see that their ways were evil and decline to hear his message, just like those left behind in Judah."},{"start_chapter":12,"start_verse":5,"end_chapter":12,"end_verse":7,"contents":"Ezekiel was to dig a hole through the wall as though sneaking out of a besieged city without being noticed, as Zedekiah later attempted to do (2 Kgs 25:4)."},{"start_chapter":12,"start_verse":12,"end_chapter":12,"end_verse":13,"contents":"King Zedekiah was unable to see the coming judgment, so he would be unable to see either the land he is leaving or the land of the Babylonians. This prophecy was fulfilled when the Babylonians captured Zedekiah as he fled from besieged Jerusalem. After making him watch while his sons were tortured to death, the Babylonians gouged out his eyes (2 Kgs 25:1-7). This terrible fate for Judah’s last king was not simply due to the Babylonians’ imperial expansionist ambitions. More fundamentally, the Lord wanted to capture him in his snare."},{"start_chapter":12,"start_verse":17,"end_chapter":12,"end_verse":20,"contents":"For Ezekiel to tremble and shake while eating and drinking was a sign act that reflected the terrible anxiety of the inhabitants of Jerusalem and Judah as they saw their inevitable doom approaching. When the exiles learned that their former homeland had been destroyed, they would realize that they were not castoffs from God’s plan, but rather the fortunate ones who had escaped his comprehensive judgment (see Jer 24:1-8)."},{"start_chapter":12,"start_verse":21,"end_chapter":14,"end_verse":11,"contents":"The messages in this section address the issue of true and false prophecy."},{"start_chapter":12,"start_verse":23,"end_chapter":12,"end_verse":25,"contents":"In response to the people’s unbelief (12:22), the Lord framed a new proverb for the people, using similar words but with an opposite meaning."},{"start_chapter":12,"start_verse":26,"end_chapter":12,"end_verse":28,"contents":"The people responded with a second proverb, and again the Lord refuted them. What the Lord had threatened, he would do."},{"start_chapter":13,"start_verse":1,"end_chapter":13,"end_verse":3,"contents":"The fundamental difference between true and false prophets was that false prophets were inventing their own prophecies, while true prophets spoke the word of the Lord. Now these false prophets would receive a word from the Lord about their own destruction. Sorrow awaited these deceived and deceiving messengers."},{"start_chapter":13,"start_verse":4,"end_chapter":13,"end_verse":5,"contents":"The false prophets are compared to jackals digging in the ruins to prey on the small animals living there. The false prophets did not repair the breaks in the walls by calling the people who were suffering at the hands of the Babylonians to repent, live holy lives, and fight evil. Instead, they gained prestige—and perhaps money—by telling lies that encouraged the people to continue to rebel. Like jackals, these false prophets were actually breaking the walls down, not building them up (cp. Neh 4:3)."},{"start_chapter":13,"start_verse":6,"end_chapter":13,"end_verse":7,"contents":"Although the false prophets knew that their words were lies and false predictions, they confidently expected God to fulfill their prophecies. These false hopes gave God’s people a false sense of security that would prove empty and destructive on the coming day of judgment (cp. Jer 6:14)."},{"start_chapter":13,"start_verse":8,"end_chapter":13,"end_verse":9,"contents":"The false prophets’ desire for personal safety would be counterproductive. They would be banished from the community and would never again set foot in their own land."},{"start_chapter":13,"start_verse":10,"end_chapter":13,"end_verse":16,"contents":"The people’s “righteousness” was a flimsy wall in danger of collapse. Rather than doing the hard work of constructing their wall properly by calling the people to repentance, the false prophets were content to give it a coat of whitewash by telling the people that peace would come to Jerusalem. This external touch-up made the wall appear more solid than it was. Its true weakness would be exposed by a heavy rainstorm. Water would flow into the unsealed cracks, wash away the mortar, and allow the stones to fall away. In this case, the storm would be the great flood of God’s anger, which would destroy the people’s pretense to righteousness and the false prophets who had encouraged it. Meanwhile, they would have no peace."},{"start_chapter":13,"start_verse":17,"end_chapter":13,"end_verse":19,"contents":"Like the false male prophets (13:1-16), some women prophets proclaimed words that came only from their own imaginations. The false male prophets had been using conventional forms of prophecy, but the women used magical techniques involving charms and veils. Motivated by personal gain (a few handfuls of barley or a piece of bread), they promised life and death (cp. 3:17-21; 33:1-9), but to the wrong people."},{"start_chapter":13,"start_verse":20,"end_chapter":13,"end_verse":23,"contents":"The false women prophets did not define who qualified for life or death in the way that God did, so their ministry discouraged the righteous by making them feel that their obedience was in vain. It also encouraged the wicked to believe that they could continue in their sins without penalty. The result of this misdirection was to ensnare both the righteous and the wicked, giving both groups false ideas about God."},{"start_chapter":14,"start_verse":1,"end_chapter":14,"end_verse":3,"contents":"The leaders of the exiled community of Israel came to visit Ezekiel again, probably seeking encouragement (cp. 8:1; 20:1). The people were tainted with the same kinds of sin, such as idolatry, that affected the people in Judah (cp. 8:10-12)."},{"start_chapter":14,"start_verse":4,"end_chapter":14,"end_verse":5,"contents":"Though the exiles were going through the motions of seeking the Lord, their hearts had turned from the Lord to worship their detestable idols. It was tempting for the exiles to think that the Babylonians’ many military successes demonstrated that true power lay with the Babylonian gods rather than with the Lord."},{"start_chapter":14,"start_verse":6,"end_chapter":14,"end_verse":7,"contents":"When asking for God’s advice, rebels should only expect the response to be, Repent."},{"start_chapter":14,"start_verse":9,"end_chapter":14,"end_verse":10,"contents":"False prophets, who sought to counteract God’s will by prophesying what God had not spoken, would do God’s will unwittingly—they and other rebels would be deceived and confirmed in their rebellion. False prophets and rebellious people alike were thus punished for their sins (see also Deut 13; 1 Kgs 22:6-23)."},{"start_chapter":14,"start_verse":12,"end_chapter":14,"end_verse":20,"contents":"Israel had not been unjustly singled out for judgment. If any country were to sin against the Lord, the result would be the same. It is clear that Israel is in view here, however, because the language used to describe their sin is used elsewhere to describe a breach in Israel’s covenant relationship with the Lord. The covenant was broken, so the nation would inevitably and justly experience the covenant curses that they had ratified at the time the covenant was first made (Lev 26). • The covenant curses are itemized in four test cases. Each case envisions one of the curses listed in Lev 26: famine (Ezek 14:13-14; see Lev 26:26), wild animals (Ezek 14:15-16; see Lev 26:22), war (Ezek 14:17-18; see Lev 26:25), and disease (Ezek 14:19-20; see Lev 26:25)."},{"start_chapter":14,"start_verse":22,"end_chapter":14,"end_verse":23,"contents":"Some survivors would emerge from the devastating judgment (14:21) and join those already in exile. They would not survive because of their righteousness or that of their relatives, but simply as an object lesson for those in exile. As the exiles saw the depravity of this remnant, they would feel better about what God had done to Jerusalem. The exiles would know that God had not acted without cause but had acted with justice in his judgment upon Jerusalem."},{"start_chapter":15,"start_verse":1,"end_chapter":24,"end_verse":14,"contents":"This section contains a series of eight metaphors, each reiterating from a different angle the certainty of Jerusalem’s forthcoming judgment. The images are of a worthless vine (ch 15); a faithless wife (ch 16); a vine and two eagles (ch 17); sour grapes (ch 18); a lion and her cubs (ch 19); a sword (ch 21); two degenerate sisters (ch 23); and a cooking pot (ch 24)."},{"start_chapter":15,"start_verse":1,"end_chapter":15,"end_verse":5,"contents":"The wood of a tree can be used to make all kinds of useful objects, pegs being the simplest and most basic. A vine’s wood, however, has no strength, size, or beauty, so it is useless for pegs and it is not even good as fuel because it burns too quickly. It is completely useless."},{"start_chapter":16,"start_verse":1,"end_chapter":16,"end_verse":63,"contents":"Jerusalem is exposed as a wanton prostitute. Even in the relatively mild form of the English translation, ch 16 is hard to read, and it was at least as shocking in the ancient context. Ezekiel was graphically communicating the full ugliness and offensiveness of Judah’s sin. He refused to be polite when discussing his people’s depravity. In fact, his refusal to tone down the offensiveness of Jerusalem’s sin is precisely the point of the passage. The offensive nature of the portrayal was critical to its effectiveness because Ezekiel’s hearers could understand that God’s awful judgment upon them was justified only if they first understood the magnitude of their sin in his sight. A less graphic presentation would not have adequately communicated this message."},{"start_chapter":16,"start_verse":1,"end_chapter":16,"end_verse":3,"contents":"Ezekiel begins with Jerusalem’s unpromising origins; it came from Canaanite roots and was the offspring of an Amorite and . . . a Hittite. The city of Jerusalem predated the conquest under Joshua and was never captured during that campaign. Instead, it retained its native Canaanite population even after David conquered it."},{"start_chapter":16,"start_verse":4,"end_chapter":16,"end_verse":5,"contents":"Jerusalem’s parents were heartless and did not perform the usual obstetrical practices. Ordinarily, someone cut the umbilical cord, washed the infant, smeared salt and oil over her body, and swaddled her tightly in cloth. Instead, as was common with baby girls in the ancient world, Jerusalem was abandoned: dumped in a field and left to die."},{"start_chapter":16,"start_verse":6,"end_chapter":16,"end_verse":7,"contents":"While Jerusalem was in a helpless and hopeless condition, the Lord intervened with his life-giving word. Without that, she would certainly have died. The Lord had no obligation to rescue this abandoned child, for she would simply have been one among many facing such a fate. Yet out of his grace and mercy, the Lord enabled her not merely to survive but to thrive. Instead of dying in the field, she grew up like a plant into maturity and beauty. The city of Jerusalem prospered before becoming an Israelite city, and it was the Lord’s doing."},{"start_chapter":16,"start_verse":9,"end_chapter":16,"end_verse":10,"contents":"The Lord did for Jerusalem what her parents had never done: he washed, anointed, and clothed her, thus reversing the circumstances of her birth. • The Lord provided Jerusalem with adornments fit for a queen, including materials elsewhere associated with the Tabernacle (see Exod 25:3-5; 26:1-14). This reminded the people of Jerusalem that she was chosen as the home of God’s sanctuary and the king’s palace."},{"start_chapter":16,"start_verse":11,"end_chapter":16,"end_verse":14,"contents":"She was adorned with jewelry and fed with the very finest foods. She was known throughout the world for her beauty and splendor—both gifts from the Lord."},{"start_chapter":16,"start_verse":15,"end_chapter":16,"end_verse":19,"contents":"Instead of appreciating the good things God had given her, Jerusalem prostituted her fame and beauty to false gods and offered to idols the clothes, jewels, food, and oil that the Lord had given her."},{"start_chapter":16,"start_verse":20,"end_chapter":16,"end_verse":22,"contents":"Jerusalem even gave her sons and daughters as sacrifices to false gods. Child sacrifice was practiced among the nations around Israel as a sign of total commitment to a deity, especially in the worship of the gods Molech and Chemosh (see Deut 12:31; 2 Kgs 3:27). Israel sometimes participated in this detestable sin."},{"start_chapter":16,"start_verse":23,"end_chapter":16,"end_verse":25,"contents":"Prophets commonly described idolatry in terms of adultery (see Hos 2), but Ezekiel goes into much more detail than any other prophet. He depicts Jerusalem as not just foolish or misguided, but rotten to the core. Her adultery had taken place on every street corner, and she had an inexhaustible appetite for increasingly depraved entertainments."},{"start_chapter":16,"start_verse":26,"end_chapter":16,"end_verse":29,"contents":"Jerusalem actively promoted promiscuity in pursuing Egypt, the Assyrians, and Babylonia in alliances that were financially costly and that rarely delivered the expected benefits. These alliances would have been just as reprehensible if they had delivered tangible political benefits, because they demonstrated lack of trust in the Lord. Inevitably, they also led Israel into worship of the allied nations’ gods."},{"start_chapter":16,"start_verse":35,"end_chapter":16,"end_verse":38,"contents":"Since Jerusalem behaved like an adulteress, it was fitting that she should face an adulteress’s death sentence. God would strip her naked in a symbolic act of divorce, thus reversing the clothing metaphor of marriage (see 16:8; Hos 2:2-3). Then the people would stone her (Lev 20:10; Deut 22:22). Since this would cover her naked body with blood, she would leave the world just as she came into it. This metaphor was fulfilled when the Babylonians destroyed the city in 586 BC."},{"start_chapter":16,"start_verse":39,"end_chapter":16,"end_verse":43,"contents":"Ironically, Jerusalem’s lovers would turn against her and destroy her. The Lord’s fury would not be requited until the city had paid for all its former sins."},{"start_chapter":16,"start_verse":44,"end_chapter":16,"end_verse":45,"contents":"Jerusalem’s “parents” were a Hittite and an Amorite. Hittites and Amorites were previous occupants of Canaan who were cut off from the land because of their sins (cp. Gen 15:16). The pagan city of Jerusalem was captured and incorporated into Israel in David’s time (2 Sam 5:6-10). Jerusalem’s subsequent behavior was in keeping with her heredity."},{"start_chapter":16,"start_verse":46,"end_chapter":16,"end_verse":50,"contents":"Samaria, Jerusalem’s older (or larger) sister, had practiced deviant worship ever since Jeroboam introduced golden calves into his national shrines at Dan and Bethel (1 Kgs 12:28-33). • Sodom, Jerusalem’s younger (or smaller) sister, was a byword for sexual sin (Gen 19:4-9) and for pride, gluttony, laziness, and neglect of the poor and needy."},{"start_chapter":16,"start_verse":51,"end_chapter":16,"end_verse":52,"contents":"In comparison to Jerusalem, Samaria and Sodom seemed virtuous. If God had justly destroyed both of Jerusalem’s sisters for their sins, how would Jerusalem escape God’s coming wrath?"},{"start_chapter":16,"start_verse":53,"end_chapter":16,"end_verse":54,"contents":"The power of God’s grace, even more than his judgment, would make Jerusalem feel ashamed of her association with such “parents” and “sisters” (16:44-52)."},{"start_chapter":16,"start_verse":59,"end_chapter":16,"end_verse":63,"contents":"Jerusalem’s sins were serious and had to be judged, but judgment was not God’s last word on Jerusalem. She had been comprehensively breaking God’s covenant and deserved the consequence of death, but God would remember the covenant he had made with her in the beginning. God’s purposes for his people cannot be derailed even by their sin, for his covenant commitment is everlasting (Ps 136). God’s forgiveness of her sins would finally bring Jerusalem to repentance."},{"start_chapter":17,"start_verse":1,"end_chapter":17,"end_verse":24,"contents":"This chapter uses a riddle, a form of metaphorical speech that both conceals and reveals. It is also a fable, a story that communicates a moral message about humans by transposing it into the world of plants and animals. The imaginative context creates a distance between the story and the reality and thus disarms the hearer’s defenses against an unpalatable message."},{"start_chapter":17,"start_verse":3,"end_chapter":17,"end_verse":6,"contents":"Babylon was the city filled with merchants (see 16:29)."},{"start_chapter":17,"start_verse":7,"end_chapter":17,"end_verse":9,"contents":"There was a second great eagle like the first, although not quite so glorious. • The fate of the vine was predictable. In seeking to gain more, it would lose what it already had. The second eagle would not do anything for it, and the anger of the first eagle would be justly aroused."},{"start_chapter":17,"start_verse":11,"end_chapter":17,"end_verse":18,"contents":"The first eagle was Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon. The cedar sprig was Jehoiachin, who was carried off to Babylon by Nebuchadnezzar. The replacement that grew into a low vine was Zedekiah, and the second eagle was Egypt, from whom Zedekiah was seeking help in his bid to break free of the Babylonians. The hot east wind of judgment blew from Babylon, uprooting and withering Jerusalem. • The image of the eagle that spared no effort in providing for the vine seems to describe God’s care for Israel more than Nebuchadnezzar’s concern for Zedekiah. These connections point us to a fundamental analogy between Zedekiah’s rebellion against his overlord, Nebuchadnezzar, and Israel’s rebellion against the Lord. Zedekiah’s rebellion against the might of the Babylonians was foolish to the point of being suicidal. Even more foolish was Israel’s rebellion against the Lord, the God of heaven and earth."},{"start_chapter":17,"start_verse":19,"end_chapter":17,"end_verse":21,"contents":"God would punish Israel’s king for breaking his covenant with treason against the Lord who had planted him in the land of promise. • I will bring him to Babylon and put him on trial: See 2 Kgs 25:5-7."},{"start_chapter":17,"start_verse":22,"end_chapter":17,"end_verse":24,"contents":"The last part of the chapter turns the fable around. Now the Lord would take a branch from the . . . cedar tree and plant it on . . . Israel’s highest mountain. As elsewhere in the Old Testament, tree imagery stands for the royal line, with a new shoot representing a fresh start (cp. Isa 11:1). The judgment upon the vine would not end the monarchy after all. God would plant a fresh branch that would grow into a more majestic cedar than the first cedar had ever been. Although the present dynasty of kings had reached a dead end in Zedekiah, a new beginning was not only possible but inevitable in God’s time (see Hag 2:21-23; Matt 1:11-16; 2:1-11). • God cuts the tall tree down, makes the short tree grow tall, and gives the dead tree new life, enabling birds of every sort (representing the nations) to find shelter and shade under its branches. God’s promise of an eternal throne for David would not ultimately be thwarted by the failures of David’s descendants, the kings of Judah. One day, the dynasty of David—in the person of Jesus—would once again be raised up as the source of blessing for all nations."},{"start_chapter":18,"start_verse":1,"end_chapter":18,"end_verse":2,"contents":"The people had been quoting an aphorism, The parents have eaten sour grapes, but their children’s mouths pucker at the taste, meaning that innocent children sometimes suffer because of their parents’ actions. In Ezekiel’s context, people were using this proverb to imply that the sins that had brought about the Exile had been committed by their forefathers, while they were paying the price (cp. Lam 5:7)."},{"start_chapter":18,"start_verse":3,"end_chapter":18,"end_verse":4,"contents":"The Lord’s response to the proverb of 18:1-2 was to categorically deny that it fit the situation. To the contrary, the Lord consistently punishes only those who are guilty (Deut 24:16). God is unswervingly just."},{"start_chapter":18,"start_verse":5,"end_chapter":18,"end_verse":9,"contents":"God’s justice is worked out in a case study by following three hypothetical generations. In the first generation, a righteous man was faithful in worshiping the Lord, sexually pure, and fair in dealing with others. A person who lives like that has no need to fear God’s judgment."},{"start_chapter":18,"start_verse":10,"end_chapter":18,"end_verse":13,"contents":"If the son of a righteous man does not walk in the ways of God or of his father, and his life is the opposite of everything the father stood for, he will be responsible for his own guilt and suffer God’s judgment."},{"start_chapter":18,"start_verse":14,"end_chapter":18,"end_verse":18,"contents":"The righteous son of an evil man will surely live. God will judge each person individually."},{"start_chapter":18,"start_verse":21,"end_chapter":18,"end_verse":24,"contents":"Ezekiel introduces two more case studies. Wicked people who turn away from their sins can experience God’s forgiveness, and righteous people who begin sinning will be judged."},{"start_chapter":18,"start_verse":23,"end_chapter":18,"end_verse":24,"contents":"God does not like to see wicked people die, so he appointed Ezekiel as a watchman, whose role was to turn the wicked toward godly life while warning the righteous against falling away (3:16-19; 33:1-9)."},{"start_chapter":18,"start_verse":25,"end_chapter":18,"end_verse":29,"contents":"Israel’s problem was not that the Lord wasn’t doing what’s right but that they were persistently doing what was wrong. They thoroughly deserved God’s judgment."},{"start_chapter":18,"start_verse":30,"end_chapter":18,"end_verse":32,"contents":"This chapter concludes with a passionate appeal to the people of Israel to turn back and live. It was not too late for them to repent, turn from their sins, and be forgiven. God promised a new heart and a new spirit (11:19; 36:26) to all who would turn from their rebellion and humbly come to him."},{"start_chapter":19,"start_verse":1,"end_chapter":19,"end_verse":14,"contents":"An ancient Near Eastern funeral song had a distinctive rhythm and style and usually extolled the virtues of the person who had died, contrasting past glory with the current loss. In this case, those being lamented were not yet dead, and the dirge contained a catalogue of their faults. This dirge profoundly communicated the certainty of their fate and the reasons for it. • The lion (19:2-9) and the vine (19:10-14) were familiar images for the princes of Israel, the royal dynasty of Judah."},{"start_chapter":19,"start_verse":2,"end_chapter":19,"end_verse":4,"contents":"The first picture is of a lioness and one of her cubs, whom she chose as the leader of her pack. This cub represented Jehoahaz, who reigned for a mere three months before being carried to Egypt by Pharaoh Neco (2 Kgs 23:33-34). • hunt . . . devour prey . . . man-eater: The prophet characterizes Jehoahaz’s brief reign in entirely negative terms. • Lions were traditionally hunted with a net and a pit, here a metaphor for the violent way that Jehoahaz would be carried away to Egypt."},{"start_chapter":19,"start_verse":5,"end_chapter":19,"end_verse":7,"contents":"The behavior of the second cub was similar to that of the first but even more violent, as he destroyed their towns and cities. This cub could represent Jehoiakim, Jehoiachin, or Zedekiah. It is not clear which towns and cities the king of Judah destroyed—the prophet might have been thinking of the negative effect that foolish foreign policy had on the cities and towns of Judah."},{"start_chapter":19,"start_verse":8,"end_chapter":19,"end_verse":9,"contents":"Jehoiakim was captured and killed by the Babylonians in Judah. Jehoiachin was exiled to Babylon along with Ezekiel. Zedekiah’s reign ended with the destruction of Jerusalem in 586 BC."},{"start_chapter":19,"start_verse":11,"end_chapter":19,"end_verse":12,"contents":"Judah’s pride led to its downfall as the Lord uprooted it in his wrath (cp. 17:1-10). He then replanted Judah in the desert of exile."},{"start_chapter":19,"start_verse":13,"end_chapter":19,"end_verse":14,"contents":"The fire (probably Zedekiah) that came from the vine’s own branches consumed the fruit (the land and people). After this destruction, there was no branch left that was strong enough to be a ruler’s scepter. Zedekiah would have no immediate successor."},{"start_chapter":20,"start_verse":1,"end_chapter":20,"end_verse":3,"contents":"the seventh year of King Jehoiachin’s captivity: Five more years would pass before the destruction of Jerusalem. • The leaders (literally elders) of Israel—the leaders of the community in exile—came to Ezekiel once again, looking for a word from the Lord (cp. 8:1; 14:1). Normally, seeking a message from the Lord is a good thing. But these leaders had already been condemned for their mixed motives (see ch 14), and the Lord would not receive their request. The question they asked Ezekiel is not recorded—perhaps they never had the opportunity to ask it."},{"start_chapter":20,"start_verse":4,"end_chapter":20,"end_verse":26,"contents":"That the Lord would not answer their inquiry did not mean that he had nothing to say to them. Ezekiel would parade the detestable character of their ancestors before their eyes."},{"start_chapter":20,"start_verse":8,"end_chapter":20,"end_verse":21,"contents":"Each generation of Israelites rebelled against the Lord and refused to obey the commandments he gave them. Each time, the Lord threatened to pour out his fury upon them (20:8, 13, 21), but he relented for the honor of his name, lest the nations around them should think the Lord’s power insufficient to bring his people into the Promised Land."},{"start_chapter":20,"start_verse":25,"end_chapter":20,"end_verse":26,"contents":"I gave them over to worthless decrees and regulations . . . I let them pollute themselves: The Lord allowed the people of Israel to exercise their depravity in the complex and corrupting rituals of paganism and to suffer all of its terrible consequences (see Rom 1:18-25)."},{"start_chapter":20,"start_verse":27,"end_chapter":20,"end_verse":31,"contents":"Once in the Promised Land, Israel continued to blaspheme and betray the Lord. Their idolatry and wickedness continued to Ezekiel’s day. Such apostate people would receive no answer from the Lord."},{"start_chapter":20,"start_verse":32,"end_chapter":20,"end_verse":38,"contents":"As in the past, Israel’s rebellion had led to God’s limited judgment, so that they were once again scattered among the nations. Earlier history made it clear that judgment would not be the end of the story, as the honor of God’s name required that he fulfill his promises despite his people’s sin. • Israel could never be like the nations all around . . . who serve idols of wood and stone (20:32). God had chosen them to be his and he would bring them back into the wilderness in a new exodus. It was not unmitigated good news, for a whole generation died in the wilderness after the first Exodus because of their sin. God would also judge and purge this generation in the wilderness, and those who were rebels, refusing to obey the Lord, would never enter the land of Israel. The wilderness of the nations would be their final resting place."},{"start_chapter":20,"start_verse":39,"end_chapter":20,"end_verse":44,"contents":"The people of Israel might continue to worship . . . idols, but in the end, they would worship God in spirit and in truth on his holy mountain (see chs 40–48, in which the purified worship of God is restored in the Temple; cp. John 4:21-24). God’s purpose in choosing Israel to be a holy nation would ultimately stand. The people would be a pleasing sacrifice to him and would display God’s holiness. The result of this new exodus would be pure worship, offered by a purified people who were saved by sovereign grace."},{"start_chapter":20,"start_verse":45,"end_chapter":20,"end_verse":49,"contents":"Like a parable, this prophecy both reveals and conceals its message, leading the people to complain that the prophet only talks in riddles (see Matt 13:10-17). It reveals the coming of an all-consuming judgment (a fire that will burn up every tree), but conceals who is being judged."},{"start_chapter":21,"start_verse":1,"end_chapter":21,"end_verse":32,"contents":"This chapter is unified by references to a sword (21:3-5, 9, 11-12, 14-16, 19, 28-30), which in each case depicts God’s judgment."},{"start_chapter":21,"start_verse":3,"end_chapter":21,"end_verse":5,"contents":"The Lord was the fundamental enemy whom Israel had to fear, for he was about to unleash an all-encompassing judgment against it. • One would expect the righteous to avoid judgment and the wicked to receive it. This pairing parallels the green tree and the dry tree of the parable (20:47-48). The judgment of sin would be like a very hot fire burning all it touched."},{"start_chapter":21,"start_verse":6,"end_chapter":21,"end_verse":7,"contents":"Ezekiel’s groaning showed that in the coming judgment, the boldest heart would melt and the strong knees would become . . . weak. The judgment that had previously been announced had now become a bitter reality (cp. 7:1-4)."},{"start_chapter":21,"start_verse":8,"end_chapter":21,"end_verse":11,"contents":"a sword is being sharpened and polished: These processes prepared a weapon for deadly effectiveness; once it was prepared, it would be handed over to the executioner, who would use it against God’s people."},{"start_chapter":21,"start_verse":14,"end_chapter":21,"end_verse":17,"contents":"As the representative of the Lord, Ezekiel was to clap his hands in a threatening gesture and take the sword and brandish it . . . three times to represent the completeness of the coming massacre. There would be nowhere to run and nowhere to hide from the slashing sword of judgment when the Lord was ready to satisfy his fury by destroying his people. Their hearts would melt with terror at the awful massacre."},{"start_chapter":21,"start_verse":18,"end_chapter":21,"end_verse":20,"contents":"The sword of the Lord was not an abstract metaphor; it would take shape as the sword of Babylon’s king. Nebuchadnezzar’s preparation for this campaign was depicted when Ezekiel drew a map showing Nebuchadnezzar’s two possible campaign objectives—Rabbah, the capital of Ammon, and Jerusalem, the capital of Judah."},{"start_chapter":21,"start_verse":23,"end_chapter":21,"end_verse":24,"contents":"A treaty with the Babylonians would not save the people of Jerusalem because they had been unfaithful to the terms of that treaty. The king of Babylon would remind the people of their rebellion by publicly demonstrating that rebellion against a covenant overlord had consequences. If this was true of rebellion against their Babylonian master, how much more when they rebelled against the Lord?"},{"start_chapter":21,"start_verse":25,"end_chapter":21,"end_verse":27,"contents":"This judgment would extend against Zedekiah, the corrupt and wicked prince of Israel, as well as against the people. Ezekiel identifies Zedekiah by title rather than by name, indicating that his office was also under judgment. He would be stripped of the emblems of royalty and brought low, while the Lord exalted the lowly. The old order would experience destruction. • the one appears who has the right to judge it: This coming judge is often understood to be the Messiah (cp. Gen 49:10). In this context, however, the Lord was handing Judah over to the Babylonians for judgment (see Ezek 23:24). Ezekiel was probably reshaping the traditional messianic oracle of Gen 49:10 into a message of imminent judgment by the hand of Nebuchadnezzar, acting as an agent of God. God temporarily took away the scepter from Judah because Israel’s rulers had sinned, but he would eventually give it back."},{"start_chapter":21,"start_verse":28,"end_chapter":21,"end_verse":29,"contents":"The Ammonites had no cause to rejoice in the reprieve that came when Nebuchadnezzar went toward Jerusalem rather than Rabbah (21:18-20)—they, too, were among the wicked for whom the day of final reckoning had come."},{"start_chapter":21,"start_verse":30,"end_chapter":21,"end_verse":32,"contents":"The sword would return . . . to its sheath, not to rest there, but to accomplish the Lord’s judgment against its own country, Babylon. God would also pour out . . . fury and the fire of his anger on Babylon. It had no special protection simply because God had used it as his tool in judging others. Judgment may have begun with God’s household (1 Pet 4:17), but it did not end there. God’s judgment included the pagan nations around Judah."},{"start_chapter":22,"start_verse":1,"end_chapter":22,"end_verse":31,"contents":"Jerusalem, the holy city where God had placed his name, was the spiritual heart of Judah. It had been corrupted and defiled; instead of being filled with God, Jerusalem was filled with bloodshed. As a result, God’s wrath would certainly fall on the city."},{"start_chapter":22,"start_verse":1,"end_chapter":22,"end_verse":5,"contents":"Now Ezekiel was called upon to act as a prosecutor by detailing the indictment against Jerusalem that would bring about its judgment. The city was guilty of sins against fellow human beings, including the blood they had shed (see Gen 9:5-6), and of sins against God, such as making idols (see Exod 20:4-6). These two classes of sin defiled the city and made it guilty, liable to judgment and unfit to appear in the presence of the holy God. As a result, Jerusalem faced guaranteed destruction and scorn."},{"start_chapter":22,"start_verse":6,"end_chapter":22,"end_verse":12,"contents":"These charges against the people of Judah and their leaders were all drawn from God’s law, especially from Lev 18–20; 25:1-55. Israel’s many sins represented a wider failure to honor and trust the Lord and his commands. Such unfaithfulness to their covenant with the Lord could have only one result: The people of Israel would experience the covenant curses (Deut 8:19-20; 28:15-68)."},{"start_chapter":22,"start_verse":13,"end_chapter":22,"end_verse":16,"contents":"God expressed his wrath first in the angry gesture of clapping his hands and then by pouring out judgment. The first judgment was that God would scatter the people of Judah among the nations to purge them of their wickedness."},{"start_chapter":22,"start_verse":17,"end_chapter":22,"end_verse":22,"contents":"Scattering was not the only aspect of judgment. God would also gather Judah into Jerusalem for judgment as metal is gathered into a smelter’s furnace. This refining fire would not yield a purified remnant. Since only worthless slag would go in, only worthless molten slag would come out. The judgment would not cleanse the people but would destroy everything in its path."},{"start_chapter":22,"start_verse":23,"end_chapter":22,"end_verse":24,"contents":"The previous judgments on Jerusalem had not had a cleansing effect; Jerusalem remained polluted."},{"start_chapter":22,"start_verse":25,"end_chapter":22,"end_verse":29,"contents":"This list of Jerusalem’s sins focuses on the sins of the leaders in Judah (cp. Zeph 3:3-4). • princes: The princes and other leaders had abused their power by killing innocent people and seizing their wealth. The priests had sinned by not teaching people the law so that they could distinguish between holy and profane, clean and unclean. The prophets announced false visions instead of a true word from God. As a result, the people went astray for lack of guidance."},{"start_chapter":22,"start_verse":30,"end_chapter":22,"end_verse":31,"contents":"In response to the sins of these former community leaders, the Lord sought someone who would rebuild the wall and stand in the gap as a true prophet (see 13:5), someone who would intercede for the people, as Moses did after the people sinned with the gold calf (Exod 32). The Lord found no one to deflect his wrath, so his fury would now be poured out upon them in full measure (cp. Ezek 11:21)."},{"start_chapter":23,"start_verse":1,"end_chapter":23,"end_verse":49,"contents":"This chapter, like ch 16, gives the history of the northern and southern kingdoms of Israel and Judah in the form of an extended metaphor. It graphically depicts Samaria and Jerusalem, the capital cities, as two immoral women. The metaphor emphasizes that their judgment was inevitable and well-deserved."},{"start_chapter":23,"start_verse":5,"end_chapter":23,"end_verse":8,"contents":"Oholah: The northern kingdom, far from being converted by God’s covenant of grace, was fascinated with the power and prestige of Assyria. Alliances with Assyria were part of Israel’s political strategy from the 800s BC, but in the end, such alliances did not keep Israel safe."},{"start_chapter":23,"start_verse":9,"end_chapter":23,"end_verse":10,"contents":"The northern kingdom was overrun by the Assyrian army in 722 BC, and its people were dispersed throughout the Assyrian Empire."},{"start_chapter":23,"start_verse":11,"end_chapter":23,"end_verse":18,"contents":"Samaria’s reputation and punishment were known to everyone in Ezekiel’s time. Her sister, Oholibah (Jerusalem), followed the same pattern of life and was even worse than her sister. What a succession of Judah’s kings regarded as wise political maneuvering—seeking alliances with Babylon as well as with Assyria—the prophet presents as a pattern of consistent, ever-deepening spiritual adultery."},{"start_chapter":23,"start_verse":19,"end_chapter":23,"end_verse":20,"contents":"When the people of Jerusalem thought of Egypt, they did not remember the Lord’s deliverance through the Exodus, but the forbidden pleasures they had enjoyed there."},{"start_chapter":23,"start_verse":22,"end_chapter":23,"end_verse":24,"contents":"Jerusalem’s depravity made God’s judgment inevitable. The very nations that she courted as her lovers would abuse her. Babylon would bring its allies, Pekod, Shoa, and Koa. The names of these obscure tribes sound like Hebrew words meaning “Punishment,” “War cry,” and “Shriek.” Judah’s sins were greater than her sister’s, and her judgment would also be worse."},{"start_chapter":23,"start_verse":25,"end_chapter":23,"end_verse":29,"contents":"Stripping an adulterous wife naked—to expose in public what she had done in private—was a punishment for adultery (see study note on 16:35-38). The Babylonians similarly stripped Jerusalem and Judah of everything valuable and exposed them to their own shame."},{"start_chapter":23,"start_verse":31,"end_chapter":23,"end_verse":34,"contents":"your sister’s cup of terror: Jerusalem would have to drink from this bitter cup of judgment, as Samaria had. The pain of that judgment would cause her to beat (or tear at) her breast in anguish."},{"start_chapter":23,"start_verse":36,"end_chapter":23,"end_verse":43,"contents":"The prophet again adopted the role of prosecuting attorney, whose task was to confront Jerusalem with her sins (described in detail in ch 22). Far from being holy cities, Jerusalem and Samaria had become worn-out prostitutes whose only attractiveness was in their availability."},{"start_chapter":23,"start_verse":44,"end_chapter":23,"end_verse":49,"contents":"The sisters’ enemies would stone them like adulteresses and kill them with swords as an invading army would do. In the typical pattern of invasion, not only the prostitutes but also their sons and daughters would die, and the enemy would burn their homes. Those who rebelled against the Lord and pursued idolatry would suffer the full penalty of death."},{"start_chapter":24,"start_verse":1,"end_chapter":24,"end_verse":14,"contents":"At first sight, the picture of a cooking pot is positive, conjuring expectations of good food and fellowship. Various choice pieces of a sacrificial animal had been gathered, a fire was kindled underneath the pot, and the contents were brought to a simmer. However, as in many parables, there is a sting in the tail of the story. What ought to have been a tasty meal had become a foul, profane mess. The choice pieces of meat that had gone in were uniformly corrupt when they came out. The pot represented Jerusalem (24:9); its contents would be burned and destroyed."},{"start_chapter":24,"start_verse":6,"end_chapter":24,"end_verse":8,"contents":"The cooking pot was beyond cleansing. Jerusalem was full of blood that she had shed and left exposed. The Old Testament required that the blood of animals shed for meat be covered with earth (Lev 17:13). By leaving the blood of her innocent victims exposed, Jerusalem was doubly guilty. Her own blood would justly be splashed on the rocks (cp. Ps 137:8-9)."},{"start_chapter":24,"start_verse":9,"end_chapter":24,"end_verse":12,"contents":"God declared that he would now make the cooking pot , Jerusalem, as red hot as if it were in a refiner’s furnace. Even this fire would not purge its corruption, however, for Jerusalem’s impurity was indelible."},{"start_chapter":24,"start_verse":13,"end_chapter":24,"end_verse":14,"contents":"All that remained for Jerusalem was judgment without pity because of her wicked deeds and her refusal to turn back to the Lord."},{"start_chapter":24,"start_verse":15,"end_chapter":24,"end_verse":17,"contents":"Nowhere is a prophet’s total involvement in his message demonstrated more vividly than when God took the life of Ezekiel’s wife, and Ezekiel was not allowed to mourn his dearest treasure openly. Ezekiel was a priest (1:3), and all priests had restrictions placed on their mourning. The public rituals of torn clothes and an unkempt appearance would make one unclean, and priests were not permitted to make themselves unclean for any but the closest blood relatives (Lev 21:1-4). Ezekiel’s lack of mourning was also a sign act that showed what was about to happen to Israel (Ezek 24:20-24; see “Prophetic Sign Acts” Theme Note)."},{"start_chapter":24,"start_verse":20,"end_chapter":24,"end_verse":24,"contents":"Ezekiel’s lack of mourning (24:15-17) was a sign to Israel of what lay ahead for them. The Lord was about to take away the place your heart delights in—the Temple of Jerusalem. God was going to desecrate it and destroy the sons and daughters they had left behind in Jerusalem. On that day, the people would behave as Ezekiel had done; they would not mourn in public or carry out the associated rituals. Though they would feel the loss deeply in their hearts, the scale of the devastation would be so overwhelming that there would be no opportunity for normal mourning rites. In the context of such terrible and complete desolation, only internal grief could be observed."},{"start_chapter":24,"start_verse":25,"end_chapter":24,"end_verse":27,"contents":"In the midst of this deep gloom and woe, on the very day when a survivor would arrive to confirm the fall of Jerusalem, there would also be a sign of hope for the people. On that day, Ezekiel’s voice would suddenly return (see 3:26), and he would once again be able to pray to God for the people and intercede on their behalf. The final destruction of Jerusalem would complete the full outpouring of God’s wrath and fury. On that day, Ezekiel would finally be able to speak words of hope to the shattered remnant of the exiles, so that they might know the Lord."},{"start_chapter":25,"start_verse":1,"end_chapter":32,"end_verse":32,"contents":"This section contains a series of oracles against surrounding nations. There are six shorter oracles against Judah’s immediate neighbors, in clockwise geographical order, followed by a climactic seventh oracle against Egypt (chs 30–32). Through their experience of God’s judgment, the nations would recognize God’s sovereignty over all things. The nations might be used to bring about God’s judgment of his people, but that would not exempt them from judgment. • One of the key purposes of these oracles against the nations was to affirm that the negative side of God’s covenant with Abraham (“I will . . . curse those who treat you with contempt,” Gen 12:3) was in force. No one can assault God’s people and escape unscathed, even when God’s people are themselves under his judgment."},{"start_chapter":25,"start_verse":3,"end_chapter":25,"end_verse":7,"contents":"Because the Ammonites rejoiced over Judah’s downfall and celebrated the destruction of Israel’s Temple, they would experience invasion and destruction, as the prophet had already warned (21:28-32). Others would eat the Ammonites’ produce and their people would be exterminated, just as had happened to Judah. The Ammonites’ gods would be unable to save them from the Lord’s wrath, and they would know that the Lord is the true God."},{"start_chapter":25,"start_verse":8,"end_chapter":25,"end_verse":11,"contents":"The people of Moab thought that they could attack Judah with impunity, as though it were just like all the other nations. This was not true—even though Judah had been acting as though it were (see 20:32)—because Judah had a covenant with God, and God would not ultimately reject Judah. Instead, like Ammon, Moab would be removed from the register of the nations and left perpetually desolate."},{"start_chapter":25,"start_verse":12,"end_chapter":25,"end_verse":14,"contents":"Ammon and Moab gloated at Judah’s downfall, but Edom actively participated in it (see 35:5; Obad 1). • avenging: The people of Edom cut down fugitives and handed over survivors in aid of the Babylonians (Obad 1:11-14). They were opportunists, settling old scores that dated back to the ancient conflict between Jacob and Esau (Gen 27:41); they gained what they could for themselves out of Judah’s difficulties. In return, the Lord would desolate their land."},{"start_chapter":25,"start_verse":15,"end_chapter":25,"end_verse":17,"contents":"The Philistines also had a long-standing contempt for Judah. Their crimes are not specified, but they did not escape the Lord’s notice, and he would return vengeance for vengeance. Then they, too, would recognize the Lord’s sovereign power. • The Kerethites were a Philistine tribe (see 1 Sam 30:14)."},{"start_chapter":26,"start_verse":1,"end_chapter":28,"end_verse":19,"contents":"The message against Tyre, Israel’s northwestern neighbor, is much more substantial than the short oracles preceding it. It takes the form of three nearly parallel panels (26:2-21; 27:1-36; and 28:1-19), each presenting a variation on the same message—that Tyre would come to a horrible end and exist no more (27:36)."},{"start_chapter":26,"start_verse":3,"end_chapter":26,"end_verse":6,"contents":"The many nations with which Tyre wanted to trade would instead come against her equipped for war, and like Jerusalem, she would become plunder for their armies. • waves of the sea crashing against your shoreline: This is a particularly apt metaphor for an assault on Tyre, which lay on a small coastal island."},{"start_chapter":26,"start_verse":7,"end_chapter":26,"end_verse":11,"contents":"Tyre’s projected destruction is described in great detail, conveying certainty as to the conflict’s outcome."},{"start_chapter":26,"start_verse":12,"end_chapter":26,"end_verse":14,"contents":"The end result was exactly as the prophet had described earlier in metaphorical language. Tyre would become a bare rock, a desolate haunt for local fishermen to spread their nets to dry, instead of a bustling center for long-distance trading vessels and caravans from the east (26:2). According to Josephus, Tyre was besieged by Nebuchadnezzar for thirteen years, although it was not finally destroyed until the time of Alexander the Great (332 BC)."},{"start_chapter":26,"start_verse":15,"end_chapter":26,"end_verse":16,"contents":"The economic impact of Tyre’s fall would spread out to her trading partners along the whole coastline, causing their rulers to abdicate."},{"start_chapter":26,"start_verse":17,"end_chapter":26,"end_verse":18,"contents":"The funeral song (see study note on 19:1-14) for Tyre would be taken up and repeated from place to place. • naval power . . . spread fear: Tyre’s trading practices were apparently based on conquest, subjugation, and exploitation (see 28:16, 18)."},{"start_chapter":26,"start_verse":19,"end_chapter":26,"end_verse":21,"contents":"God would demonstrate his sovereign power by utterly destroying Tyre. It would be as though that great city had sunk into the depths of the chaotic ocean waves, with its inhabitants condemned to the pit where the unrighteous dead reside, never to return."},{"start_chapter":27,"start_verse":1,"end_chapter":27,"end_verse":36,"contents":"The second panel of the prophet’s address to Tyre (see study note on 26:1–28:19) is a funeral song that contrasts past glory with present loss. It is connected with the previous chapter by being addressed to Tyre, by its imagery of a gateway and a trading center (see 26:1-2), and by the common conclusion you have come to a horrible end and will exist no more (cp. 26:21)."},{"start_chapter":27,"start_verse":4,"end_chapter":27,"end_verse":7,"contents":"Tyre’s past greatness is described in great detail under the metaphor of a mighty sailing ship created out of the very best resources from the surrounding nations."},{"start_chapter":27,"start_verse":8,"end_chapter":27,"end_verse":11,"contents":"The ship of Tyre was manned by a crew gathered from the most famously skilled men in the world. • The locations described in this account cover most of the known world at the time. Tyre’s influence was vast."},{"start_chapter":27,"start_verse":8,"end_chapter":27,"end_verse":9,"contents":"Sidon, Arvad, and Gebal were Mediterranean coastal towns."},{"start_chapter":27,"start_verse":12,"end_chapter":27,"end_verse":25,"contents":"This vast system of transport was all at the service of Tyre’s insatiable appetite for trade. The list of Tyre’s trading partners goes on and on; Tyre was the source of a wide variety of commodities from slaves to horses, saddle blankets to silver, dyes to figs (cp. Rev 18:11-13). The cargo list for the ship is organized according to the different geographic regions with which she conducted trade, covering all points of the compass and including every trading center, major and minor. Virtually every precious object that could be bought or sold found a place somewhere on the list of Tyre’s goods."},{"start_chapter":27,"start_verse":13,"end_chapter":27,"end_verse":14,"contents":"Tubal, Meshech, and neighboring Beth-togarmah were regions in Anatolia (modern Turkey)."},{"start_chapter":27,"start_verse":20,"end_chapter":27,"end_verse":21,"contents":"Kedar was a region of Arabia named for a son of Ishmael (Gen 25:13)."},{"start_chapter":28,"start_verse":1,"end_chapter":28,"end_verse":19,"contents":"The third panel against Tyre (see study note on 26:1–28:19) addresses and condemns its ruler, the prince of Tyre, for his pride. He personifies the city of Tyre, so his fate represents Tyre’s fate. In his arrogance, the prince of Tyre laid claim to divinity and the power that goes with it, asserting that he sat on a divine throne, ruling the chaotic, untamable seas. The reality, however, was otherwise; he was only a man. • This chapter and Isa 14 (about the king of Babylon) have often been interpreted as referring to the heavenly conflict between God and Satan, “the prince of demons” (Matt 12:24). However, this view ignores the historical nature of both passages. Tyre and Babylon were real places and their kings were real men whose great power was matched by great pride. The king of Tyre’s claim to be a god proved hollow. The political powers that oppose God and his people may be agents of Satan in his struggle against God. The sure demise of such human rulers foreshadows God’s ultimate triumph over all the forces of darkness. Every power that sets itself up against the living God will be brought to destruction."},{"start_chapter":28,"start_verse":3,"end_chapter":28,"end_verse":5,"contents":"The prince of Tyre’s claim to divine status was based on his wisdom and his wealth. His wisdom had made him very rich, and those riches had made him inordinately proud."},{"start_chapter":28,"start_verse":6,"end_chapter":28,"end_verse":7,"contents":"The prince of Tyre’s pride was the precursor to his fall (Prov 16:18). His claim to wisdom and power would be empty when the Lord brought the Babylonian army against him; they would draw their swords and cut him down to size."},{"start_chapter":28,"start_verse":12,"end_chapter":28,"end_verse":19,"contents":"This eulogy at first appears to take the prince of Tyre’s aspirations to divinity seriously. He was the very model of perfection, full of wisdom and . . . beauty. It turns out to be a sarcastic lament."},{"start_chapter":28,"start_verse":13,"end_chapter":28,"end_verse":14,"contents":"Mocking Tyre’s claim to antiquity and preeminence, Ezekiel describes its king as being present in Eden at the beginning of the world, as the mighty angelic guardian—that is, as one of the heavenly beings that carried the Lord’s throne in ch 1 and guarded the garden in Gen 3. There in Eden, he had access to the holy mountain of God (mountains are often associated with God’s presence in the Bible). • The stones of fire may be an obscure reference to a hedge of sparkling gemstones around the Garden of Eden. The list of jewels that the prince of Tyre supposedly wore in his original glory adds to this image of his divine election since it includes nine of the twelve jewels found on the high priest’s breastplate in Exod 28. This description satirizes the prince of Tyre’s claim to an even higher place than Adam’s—a place among the divine beings themselves."},{"start_chapter":28,"start_verse":15,"end_chapter":28,"end_verse":18,"contents":"This sarcastic description of the prince of Tyre’s greatness and pride sets him up for his coming fall, which is cast in terms reminiscent of the fall of humanity (Gen 3). As with Adam, the king of Tyre’s supposedly blameless condition was not permanent, but came to an abrupt end when evil was found in him. His rich commerce and dishonest trade led him to violence (cp. Ezek 26:17). One who claimed to be greater than Adam could experience a fall from favor similar to Adam’s and be banished . . . from the mountain of God, the place of God’s favor. The prince of Tyre’s God-given beauty and wisdom were corrupted by his pride, which inevitably led to disaster and exposed his true nature."},{"start_chapter":28,"start_verse":18,"end_chapter":28,"end_verse":19,"contents":"Far from being a deity who could sanctify a piece of ground by his presence, the prince of Tyre had the opposite effect. He defiled the holy ground of his sanctuaries. Judgment was pronounced on his city in the previous two panels, and it was the prince of Tyre’s fate to come to a terrible end, and . . . exist no more (cp. 26:21; 27:36). The exalted captain would go down with his glorious ship and be brought to nothing by the Lord’s act."},{"start_chapter":28,"start_verse":20,"end_chapter":28,"end_verse":24,"contents":"No specific charges are made against Sidon, Tyre’s close neighbor to the north, though presumably it was guilty of similar offenses. Its rejoicing at Judah’s destruction would not last."},{"start_chapter":28,"start_verse":22,"end_chapter":28,"end_verse":23,"contents":"The Lord planned to reveal his glory and holiness by bringing upon Sidon the threefold judgment of plague, blood, and attack (or the sword) on every side."},{"start_chapter":28,"start_verse":25,"end_chapter":28,"end_verse":26,"contents":"The Lord would not reveal his holiness simply by judging the nations for their pride, arrogance, and enmity toward his chosen people. He would also gather his people back to the land of Israel. There they would live safely and be able to build homes and plant vineyards, which were typical signs of covenantal blessing in the Old Testament (see Mic 4:4; Zech 3:10). After God acted to punish the neighboring nations and restore his people, they would be at rest. The nations would know that God is the Sovereign Lord through his powerful acts of judgment, and Israel would know that he was the Lord their God, a title that speaks of God’s covenant relationship of worship and fellowship with them."},{"start_chapter":29,"start_verse":1,"end_chapter":32,"end_verse":32,"contents":"The climactic seventh oracle against the nations is against Egypt, Israel’s old enemy and ally. This is the longest of the oracles, and like the oracle against Tyre it addresses both the land of Egypt and its ruler. • Egypt played a central role through the centuries in tempting Israel and Judah away from their allegiance to the Lord. Israel had no sooner departed from Egypt than Egypt’s idolatry became a snare for them. Egypt caused Judah to trust in chariots and horses instead of in the Lord, but Egypt proved unreliable when the moment of truth arrived. The Lord judged Egypt for tempting his people (cp. Luke 17:1-2)."},{"start_chapter":29,"start_verse":3,"end_chapter":29,"end_verse":16,"contents":"The opening section of the oracle is a word of judgment against Pharaoh, who is addressed as a great sea monster. These creatures were a familiar part of ancient Near Eastern mythology as a manifestation of chaos that had to be tamed by the gods. Strikingly, these same sea monsters appear in demythologized form as part of God’s good creation (Gen 1:21). In this chapter, however, the mythical image blends with the image of Pharaoh as a great crocodile, resting comfortably in the streams that laced the delta of the Nile."},{"start_chapter":29,"start_verse":4,"end_chapter":29,"end_verse":5,"contents":"The picture of the mighty crocodile anticipates the arrival of the Lord as a great hunter. As with Tyre, a watery fortress would once again prove vulnerable to assault. The outwardly fearsome king of Egypt would be captured like any ordinary crocodile and brought out into the wilderness, the place of judgment, along with his allies, the fish. There he would die, and his body would be left dishonorably exposed for the wild animals and birds to eat."},{"start_chapter":29,"start_verse":6,"end_chapter":29,"end_verse":7,"contents":"Egypt’s sin is once again associated with Israel. Egypt was a staff made of reeds that repeatedly pretended to support Israel, while lacking the will and the substance to deliver the promised aid. Egypt constantly incited rebellion in Israel against Assyria and Babylonia without ever really providing help (cp. 2 Kgs 18:21). Although trusting in this cracked staff was Israel’s sin, Egypt was also guilty and would face God’s wrath for raising false hopes."},{"start_chapter":29,"start_verse":8,"end_chapter":29,"end_verse":13,"contents":"God’s solution was to devastate the land of Egypt, making it into a desolate wasteland. The threatened destruction would stretch from Migdol in the northeast down to Aswan in the south, leaving the whole of Egypt uninhabited for an entire generation of forty years (cp. 4:6). Egypt’s fate would be like Judah’s, as God would first scatter the Egyptians to distant lands and then bring the Egyptians home. The Babylonians seem to have invaded Egypt successfully in 568 or 567 BC and carried off Egyptian prisoners of war who remained in exile until the time of Cyrus, a generation later."},{"start_chapter":29,"start_verse":14,"end_chapter":29,"end_verse":16,"contents":"Judah would ultimately be fully restored, but Egypt would remain an unimportant . . . kingdom. Israel would never again be tempted to call on Egypt for help instead of calling on the Lord. Egypt’s restored but reduced position would make it a constant reminder of Israel’s past folly in trusting it."},{"start_chapter":29,"start_verse":17,"end_chapter":29,"end_verse":21,"contents":"This message, delivered in the twenty-seventh year of Jehoiachin’s captivity, has the latest recorded date of any of Ezekiel’s messages, later even than his vision of the Temple in chs 40–48."},{"start_chapter":29,"start_verse":18,"end_chapter":29,"end_verse":20,"contents":"Nebuchadnezzar’s campaign against Tyre (chs 26–28) had required a great deal of effort on the Babylonians’ part for very little return in plunder. But the Lord considers his workers worthy of their hire, so to compensate them for all their work, he would reward them with the land of Egypt."},{"start_chapter":30,"start_verse":1,"end_chapter":30,"end_verse":19,"contents":"This third message against Egypt, using the form of a lament, essentially repeats the content of the first message (29:1-16). Judgment was to be poured out on Egypt and her allies."},{"start_chapter":30,"start_verse":6,"end_chapter":30,"end_verse":7,"contents":"From Migdol to Aswan (Hebrew to Syene): This means “from north to south.” See study note on 29:8-13."},{"start_chapter":30,"start_verse":13,"end_chapter":30,"end_verse":14,"contents":"From Memphis, the most important city in the north, to Thebes, the most important city in the south, all of the cities of Egypt would be destroyed."},{"start_chapter":30,"start_verse":20,"end_chapter":30,"end_verse":26,"contents":"This fourth message against Egypt shows that God had already begun to act against his old enemy."},{"start_chapter":30,"start_verse":20,"end_chapter":30,"end_verse":26,"contents":"Jerusalem was under siege by the Babylonians, but this message rules out even the faintest hope of assistance from the Egyptians."},{"start_chapter":30,"start_verse":21,"end_chapter":30,"end_verse":23,"contents":"broken the arm of Pharaoh: The Lord had already shattered the Egyptians’ strength in the defeat of Pharaoh Hophra by Nebuchadnezzar (see Jer 37:5-11). Had Hophra succeeded in his mission, the pressure on Jerusalem would have been relieved, at least temporarily; now all hope of help from Egypt was gone. There was no prospect that the broken arm would heal or even be temporarily bound up so that Pharaoh could protect Jerusalem. Egypt would be totally helpless, unable even to hold a sword as it awaited the final death thrust."},{"start_chapter":30,"start_verse":24,"end_chapter":30,"end_verse":26,"contents":"While disabling Pharaoh (30:22), the Lord would strengthen the arms of Babylon’s king, increasing the already uneven nature of the contest. The fate of the forthcoming battle of the superpowers rested entirely in the Lord’s hands, and he had already determined its outcome. Nebuchadnezzar clashed with the Egyptians on a number of occasions, ending with victory in 567 BC."},{"start_chapter":31,"start_verse":1,"end_chapter":31,"end_verse":18,"contents":"Ezekiel called on the Egyptians to compare themselves to Assyria, which was like a great tree in Eden (31:9). If that tree was felled and sent down to the underworld, how did Egypt, whose glory could never compare to Assyria’s, think it could stand?"},{"start_chapter":31,"start_verse":2,"end_chapter":31,"end_verse":4,"contents":"The cedar of Lebanon is a tree that was known for its visual splendor and commercial and military value. • Like a tree whose crown was among the clouds, Assyria’s military had once been strong beyond comparison to any other army."},{"start_chapter":31,"start_verse":10,"end_chapter":31,"end_verse":11,"contents":"Egypt forgot that God had created her beauty, and she became proud and arrogant. As with Tyre, such pride would inevitably lead to a fall. The God who set Egypt in such an exalted position would send a divine lumberjack, in the form of a mighty nation that would destroy it as its wickedness deserved. • I have already discarded it: The human agent would simply be carrying out God’s decree."},{"start_chapter":31,"start_verse":12,"end_chapter":31,"end_verse":14,"contents":"Egypt’s fate would teach the other nations that however high they set themselves, eventually they were all doomed to die and go down to the pit."},{"start_chapter":31,"start_verse":16,"end_chapter":31,"end_verse":17,"contents":"The nations all shook with fear at the shock waves created by Assyria’s fall. The great nations that had preceded it on the road to destruction and death were gratified to find it joining them in their disgrace, while its allies followed in its dangerous course."},{"start_chapter":32,"start_verse":2,"end_chapter":32,"end_verse":3,"contents":"Ezekiel returns to the image of Pharaoh as a mighty beast (29:3). • Egypt’s pharaohs used the lion and the sea monster (or crocodile) as images of strength, yet both creatures could be hunted and killed, and that is what would happen to Pharaoh. God, through his agents (32:11-12), would hunt Pharaoh, catch him, and haul him in."},{"start_chapter":32,"start_verse":4,"end_chapter":32,"end_verse":6,"contents":"hills . . . valleys . . . mountains . . . ravines: In Hebrew, this literary device (merism) indicates both the boundaries and everything within them; here, it portrays the totality of God’s judgment. The carnage is described using hyperbole to communicate the complete destruction of Egypt."},{"start_chapter":32,"start_verse":7,"end_chapter":32,"end_verse":8,"contents":"As in the previous chapter, Pharaoh’s downfall would be accompanied by global darkness and widespread mourning. These images were commonly associated with the day of the Lord (cp. Joel 2:30). In this case, the darkness would also remind the Egyptians of the plague on Egypt at the time of the Exodus (Exod 10:21-22)."},{"start_chapter":32,"start_verse":9,"end_chapter":32,"end_verse":10,"contents":"The surrounding nations and their kings would all be terrified at Egypt’s downfall, fearing for their own future."},{"start_chapter":32,"start_verse":11,"end_chapter":32,"end_verse":12,"contents":"The human agent of God’s wrath, the sword of the king of Babylon, was coming to shatter the power of Egypt once and for all. This would be an even greater destruction than at the time of the first Passover, when only the firstborn male humans and animals of Egypt died (Exod 12:29)."},{"start_chapter":32,"start_verse":15,"end_chapter":32,"end_verse":16,"contents":"This total and final devastation of Egypt would result in their recognizing the power of the Lord, just as they did at the time of the Exodus."},{"start_chapter":32,"start_verse":17,"end_chapter":32,"end_verse":32,"contents":"This last, climactic message against Egypt sums up the whole series of messages against all of the nations."},{"start_chapter":32,"start_verse":18,"end_chapter":32,"end_verse":20,"contents":"In an earlier message (31:17-18), God had declared that Egypt would go down to join the other nations in the underworld. Here that idea is expanded. Egypt’s destination was with the outcasts, along with those who fell by the sword. This place of horror, the pit, was already populated by many nations that once wielded power but had now gone down to destruction (cp. Isa 14:9-11)."},{"start_chapter":32,"start_verse":21,"end_chapter":32,"end_verse":30,"contents":"Assyria . . . Elam . . . Meshech and Tubal . . . Edom . . . the princes of the north and the Sidonians: These nations that once struck terror in the hearts of people everywhere were now shadowy figures, spent forces in a world without meaning or joy. Assyria had been conquered by the Babylonians and Medes between 627 and 609 BC and had been removed from its previous status as a superpower."},{"start_chapter":32,"start_verse":31,"end_chapter":32,"end_verse":32,"contents":"Pharaoh and all the power of Egypt will share a similar fate. For the time appointed by God, Pharaoh caused his terror to fall upon all the living, yet when God decided to act, Egypt’s power would be broken once and for all."},{"start_chapter":33,"start_verse":1,"end_chapter":48,"end_verse":35,"contents":"After the oracles of judgment in chs 1–24 and the oracles against the nations in chs 25–32, Ezekiel here describes the future renewal of the land, the covenant, the people, and the unity of Israel and Judah under new leadership."},{"start_chapter":33,"start_verse":2,"end_chapter":33,"end_verse":4,"contents":"watchman: See study note on 3:16-19. Here the message about the watchman is part of Ezekiel’s public proclamation, not a private commission. It puts more emphasis on the people who hear the watchman’s message; they are responsible to take action in response to it. Just as the people before the destruction of Jerusalem were unwilling to hear the message of destruction, so the people after the Exile could not believe the message of hope. In both cases, in having to face the rejection of what he was saying, Ezekiel was tempted to keep quiet. God warned him again that he could not."},{"start_chapter":33,"start_verse":5,"end_chapter":33,"end_verse":9,"contents":"Ezekiel’s message encouraged the people of Israel even now to repent so that they might live and not die. The Lord had said that he would bring an army against their country, and this was evidently what was now happening. Ezekiel had been faithful to his calling as a watchman; no one who had heard his prophecy thus far could say that he did not warn the people of the coming judgment. However, the people had not heeded the warning; without a change of heart they would die in their sins."},{"start_chapter":33,"start_verse":10,"end_chapter":33,"end_verse":11,"contents":"Our sins are heavy upon us . . . How can we survive? Now that the people of Israel were finally taking the prophet’s warnings seriously, there was danger of despair rather than a response of repentance and faith. Unlike deterministic fate, God’s judgment leaves room for forgiveness. The sovereign Lord takes no pleasure in the death of wicked people. Even wicked people . . . can live if they repent and turn from their wickedness."},{"start_chapter":33,"start_verse":12,"end_chapter":33,"end_verse":16,"contents":"The principle stated in 33:10-11 is worked out in two case studies. The first involves righteous people who trust in their past righteousness to save them, even though they turn to sin. God will destroy these people in their sins, notwithstanding their earlier righteous behavior. The second case study involves wicked people who repent of wickedness. Complete forgiveness is available from the Lord. Whatever their past, those who turn from their sins and do what is just and right will live. As with the word concerning the watchman, what had been said earlier is revisited. In ch 18, the people said that they were being punished for their parents’ sins. Here they were apparently saying that their parents’ sins had put the nation under an endless curse, so repentance was useless."},{"start_chapter":33,"start_verse":17,"end_chapter":33,"end_verse":20,"contents":"The Lord isn’t doing what’s right: The perception was that God’s bringing Babylon to destroy Jerusalem was inappropriate. The Lord immediately refuted this argument (33:18). • they . . . are not doing what’s right: The people’s fault was in refusing to repent and in accusing God of injustice. • I judge each of you according to your deeds: The Lord’s judgment upon his people is never arbitrary but is a fitting response to their sins. If they repent, trust the Lord for salvation, and do what is just and right, they have hope for the future (cp. Eph 2:8-10)."},{"start_chapter":33,"start_verse":23,"end_chapter":33,"end_verse":33,"contents":"Both those in Judah (33:23-29) and those in exile (33:30-33) continued to act as they had before Jerusalem fell."},{"start_chapter":33,"start_verse":23,"end_chapter":33,"end_verse":26,"contents":"Those who remained in the ruined cities of Judah hoped to turn the disaster of the Exile into an opportunity for personal profit rather than repentance. Claiming to be the sole remaining heirs of the promise to Abraham, they sought possession of the entire land. By their behavior, they proved that they were not really Abraham’s children. They did not follow the laws prohibiting eating meat still containing blood (see Deut 12:23), they worshiped idols, and they murdered the innocent. The lives of such people were a denial of Abraham’s faith, and they would not inherit the promise given him."},{"start_chapter":33,"start_verse":27,"end_chapter":33,"end_verse":29,"contents":"The rebels in Jerusalem would continue to inherit the curses of the Mosaic covenant—the sword, wild animals, and disease (see Lev 26:22-25)—until the mountains of Israel were desolate and these sinners were utterly destroyed."},{"start_chapter":33,"start_verse":30,"end_chapter":33,"end_verse":33,"contents":"The situation was not significantly better among the exiles in Babylon. Ezekiel’s presentations were now the topic of widespread discussion among the exiles, yet their hearts remained as untouched as the hearts of those in Judah. They would sit before Ezekiel pretending to be sincere, but with no intention of doing what the Lord told them. They found his messages entertaining, but the Lord warned them that time would demonstrate the power behind the words of a true prophet."},{"start_chapter":34,"start_verse":1,"end_chapter":37,"end_verse":28,"contents":"These chapters show us the blessings that would flow from the Lord’s return to his people. He would be their shepherd and provide them with better leadership (ch 34); he would restore the fruitfulness of the land and thus vindicate his own honor (chs 35–36); he would restore his people to life and unity (ch 37)."},{"start_chapter":34,"start_verse":1,"end_chapter":34,"end_verse":24,"contents":"This chapter contains declarations of judgment and salvation. There would be judgment on the shepherds (the former kings of Judah) because they failed to care for their flocks (the people of Judah). The Lord would also judge the fat sheep, but he would intervene as a good shepherd to feed the remainder of the flock. The image of the shepherd perfectly conveys the toughness and tenderness of God’s dealings with his people. The shepherd was also a common metaphor for a king in the ancient Near East. The earthly king was understood to represent the divine shepherd who had set him over his people. Shepherds had to protect their flocks against beasts, including lions and bears, while also knowing their sheep by name and tenderly leading them to good pasture and quiet waters. They had to endure cold, heat, wind, rain, and snow out on the hills with their charges. Good kings who led their people strongly and wisely resembled shepherds. The same image is used in the New Testament to describe pastors and elders, who are to oversee the flock assigned to their care without lording it over them (1 Pet 5:2-4). Jesus perfectly combines toughness and tenderness as the “great Shepherd of the sheep” (Heb 13:20)."},{"start_chapter":34,"start_verse":2,"end_chapter":34,"end_verse":6,"contents":"What sorrow awaits you shepherds: Israel’s leaders had not taken care of the weak or gone looking for those who had wandered away and were lost. They had pursued their own interests, feeding themselves at their flock’s expense. They ruled the sheep with harshness and cruelty, recalling how the Egyptians treated the Israelites in Moses’ time (Exod 1:13-14). The neglect and abuse of these cruel shepherds had scattered the Lord’s flock across the face of the earth."},{"start_chapter":34,"start_verse":7,"end_chapter":34,"end_verse":11,"contents":"The Lord vowed to hold the self-serving shepherds responsible for the consequences of their actions. He would remove them from their pastoral office and rescue his flock from their clutches so that they were no longer their prey. The Lord would go looking for his scattered flock (34:12) and bring them home."},{"start_chapter":34,"start_verse":12,"end_chapter":34,"end_verse":16,"contents":"The dark and cloudy day, the day of judgment (cp. 32:7-8), was completed. Now God would bring his people back to the mountains of Israel, the center of the land promised to the patriarchs, and tend his sheep (see Ps 23)."},{"start_chapter":34,"start_verse":17,"end_chapter":34,"end_verse":19,"contents":"The goats were the powerful, unrighteous members of the community."},{"start_chapter":34,"start_verse":20,"end_chapter":34,"end_verse":22,"contents":"the fat sheep and the scrawny sheep: Those with power and influence in society had taken all the good things for themselves and had left others without resources. God would judge between them and set things right."},{"start_chapter":34,"start_verse":23,"end_chapter":34,"end_verse":24,"contents":"one shepherd, my servant David: God planned to raise up David’s offspring to succeed him (2 Sam 7:12-16). This “new David,” like the first one, would be the Lord’s servant, a man after God’s own heart, and a good shepherd of his people."},{"start_chapter":34,"start_verse":25,"end_chapter":34,"end_verse":26,"contents":"God planned to provide his people with a new and better ruler and to make a covenant of peace with them. Their present experience of dangerous animals, drought, famine, and sword was the outworking of the curses of the covenant made at Sinai (see Lev 26:14-35). From now on, they would camp safely, experiencing the blessings of that covenant; God would send the showers they needed for fruitfulness and peace (see Lev 26:4-13)."},{"start_chapter":34,"start_verse":27,"end_chapter":34,"end_verse":31,"contents":"In this covenant of peace, God’s people experience the blessings that flow from wholeness of relationship with God. This covenant was not essentially different from the original covenant established at Sinai. It offered the experience of genuine, lasting peace that the Sinai covenant offered but never delivered because of the sin of God’s people. In place of the failed kings of the past, they would receive a new and perfect king. In place of the relationship with God that had been repeatedly broken by sin, they would once again be God’s people, the sheep of his pasture. Then they would achieve the goal of the covenant in that the Sovereign Lord would be their God and once again dwell in their midst."},{"start_chapter":35,"start_verse":1,"end_chapter":35,"end_verse":15,"contents":"This oracle is addressed to Edom, Israel’s neighbor to the southeast, here identified by its central mountain, Mount Seir. Edom was emblematic of all Israel’s enemies (e.g., in their rejoicing at Israel’s fall, 36:2; see also 25:12-14). The demise of Judah at the hands of the Babylonians might have given Edom room to thrive, but the Lord declared that this prosperity would be short-lived."},{"start_chapter":35,"start_verse":5,"end_chapter":35,"end_verse":10,"contents":"The eternal [or ancient] hatred of Edom for Israel went all the way back to their respective ancestors, Esau and Jacob (see Gen 25:19-34; 27:1-46; Num 20:14-21; 24:18; 2 Sam 8:13-14; 1 Kgs 11:14). Because of that enmity, the Edomites took advantage of the Babylonian destruction to butcher the Israelites when they were helpless. They wanted to wipe out the descendants of Jacob and seize the lands of Israel and Judah. The bloodbath they delighted to inflict on Israel would return on their own heads, as their people would be slaughtered by the sword. Their everlasting hatred would be punished: Their land would become desolate forever. This prophecy was fulfilled when the Edomites were displaced by a coalition of Arab tribes sometime during the 400s BC."},{"start_chapter":35,"start_verse":13,"end_chapter":35,"end_verse":15,"contents":"The Edomites mistakenly assumed that God’s judgment of his people and his abandonment of the Temple meant that his covenant with Israel was no longer in effect. The Edomites had boasted and elevated themselves against both Israel and the Lord. The God of Israel would not tolerate such boasting, for he is the sovereign Lord of all. His choice of Israel and his giving them the land would not be revoked."},{"start_chapter":36,"start_verse":1,"end_chapter":36,"end_verse":15,"contents":"The destruction of Edom (ch 35) would prepare the way for the restoration of the mountains of Israel, reversing the devastation threatened in ch 6."},{"start_chapter":36,"start_verse":6,"end_chapter":36,"end_verse":7,"contents":"The period of enduring the shame of mockery and plundering would now be over for Israel, and Israel’s enemies would soon endure their own shame by being mocked and plundered."},{"start_chapter":36,"start_verse":8,"end_chapter":36,"end_verse":11,"contents":"When God’s people returned, Israel would experience an increase in population and fruitfulness, fulfilling the creation mandate of Gen 1:28."},{"start_chapter":36,"start_verse":12,"end_chapter":36,"end_verse":13,"contents":"God had intended for the land to provide abundantly for his people and their offspring; instead, it had robbed them of their children and devoured its own people. This was the direct result of Israel’s failure to keep the terms of the covenant, which led to the Lord’s judgment being imposed upon them with catastrophic results for them and their children (see 5:17). Now that the people were being transformed, they would receive the covenant blessing of a fruitful land."},{"start_chapter":36,"start_verse":16,"end_chapter":36,"end_verse":38,"contents":"Ezekiel reminded his hearers of their guilt and their need for God to change their hearts. In the future, God would cleanse his people. • Objects and people are divided in the Old Testament into the categories of “clean” and “unclean,” “sacred” and “profane” (see “Clean, Unclean, and Holy” Theme Note). God had made Israel clean, while the Gentile nations had remained unclean. Then Israel as a nation became unclean because of their bloodshed and idolatry, which defiled the land. Because they behaved like the unclean nations, Israel’s punishment of being scattered among the nations was fitting. In the future, God would make them clean so that he could dwell among them again. The other nations, seeing his holiness in his people, would once again know that he is the Holy One. In the New Testament, God’s redemption through Christ redraws the lines between clean and unclean (see Acts 10:15). The Gentiles are no longer outside of God’s grace; they too can receive the Holy Spirit and become clean. Jews and Gentiles together now make up the one people of God in Christ. Those who are in Christ Jesus are not only clean, but also holy by virtue of his priesthood. Therefore, they are able to come boldly into God’s presence and experience his grace (Heb 12:18-29)."},{"start_chapter":36,"start_verse":21,"end_chapter":36,"end_verse":24,"contents":"Out of concern for his own holiness, God sent Israel into exile. Concern for the honor of his holy name would lead him to gather them again to the land. Israel did not deserve this return from exile; it was simply a manifestation of the Lord’s holiness and power in the sight of the nations. Israel could not remain forever outside the land that God had sworn to give to Abraham and his descendants."},{"start_chapter":36,"start_verse":27,"end_chapter":36,"end_verse":28,"contents":"The Spirit of God would create life and light out of darkness and chaos (cp. Gen 1:2), producing an entirely new ability to follow God’s decrees and . . . regulations. In the past, the Spirit of God had empowered people for specific tasks of service to the Lord (see Judg 3:10; 1 Sam 16:13). In the future, a more widespread empowerment by God’s Spirit would enable his people to lead holy lives (see Joel 2:28-29). This renewed people would again live in Israel and make it fit for God’s presence to dwell among them once again."},{"start_chapter":36,"start_verse":29,"end_chapter":36,"end_verse":32,"contents":"This transformation would bring the blessings of the covenant made with Moses, not its curses, and a new glory among the surrounding nations. This blessing would cause God’s people to be profoundly ashamed of their past and to appreciate both their lack of merit and God’s overwhelming grace."},{"start_chapter":36,"start_verse":35,"end_chapter":36,"end_verse":38,"contents":"The restored land would become like the Garden of Eden, the ultimate symbol of fertility and fruitfulness. The original garden would be enhanced by restored cities, overflowing with renewed humanity like Jerusalem’s streets at the time of her festivals. The greatest blessing, however, would be God’s willingness to hear Israel’s prayers once more. He had once refused to listen to his rebellious people (14:3; 20:3), but now the Lord would turn his face toward them and hear their cries. The proof of this would be the number of people in the rebuilt cities who would acknowledge that the Lord is God."},{"start_chapter":37,"start_verse":1,"end_chapter":37,"end_verse":14,"contents":"From the promise of a vibrant city overflowing with life (36:38), the prophet was transported into a valley of death, surrounded on all sides by bones. It was a symbolic restatement of the promise that the Spirit of the Lord gives life (36:16-38)."},{"start_chapter":37,"start_verse":4,"end_chapter":37,"end_verse":6,"contents":"It was God’s will that these bones should live. His will was mediated through the prophetic message that Ezekiel was to speak . . . to these bones, declaring that they should be restored into living, breathing bodies again, complete with flesh and muscles and breath. • The word translated breath can also be translated “spirit” or “wind,” a play on words that continues throughout this chapter."},{"start_chapter":37,"start_verse":7,"end_chapter":37,"end_verse":8,"contents":"Ezekiel obediently fulfilled his commission to prophesy to the bones, and in response, they came together into whole bodies. Yet a body of bones, muscles and flesh, and skin is still a corpse. These people still had to be filled with breath if they were to live (as in Gen 2:7)."},{"start_chapter":37,"start_verse":9,"end_chapter":37,"end_verse":10,"contents":"When Ezekiel prophesied to the four winds . . . breath came into the re-formed bodies and they stood up on their feet as a great army prepared for action. This breath, emblematic of being filled with the Spirit, gave them life and empowered them for action, precisely as had happened to the prophet on two earlier occasions (1:28–2:2 and 3:23-24)."},{"start_chapter":37,"start_verse":11,"end_chapter":37,"end_verse":14,"contents":"The oracle that follows explains this vision. The people in exile felt that they were as dead as old, dry bones. As a result, they felt that all hope was gone, but the Lord could and would restore them to life. God would once again call them my people, and he promised that he would open their graves of exile and bring them back to the land of Israel."},{"start_chapter":37,"start_verse":15,"end_chapter":37,"end_verse":28,"contents":"The prophet then performed a sign act (see “Prophetic Sign Acts” Theme Note) that demonstrated the future reunification of God’s people and the healing of the schism between the northern and southern tribes (see 1 Kgs 12)."},{"start_chapter":37,"start_verse":20,"end_chapter":37,"end_verse":25,"contents":"When the kingdoms were reunited, the problems that had led to the schism would also be resolved. In place of the abusive and unfaithful leadership of Rehoboam that had split the nation in two (1 Kgs 12), God would supply a single servant leader, a shepherd king. Like David, he would unite the tribes. This restored people would also be renewed and cleansed from their idols and vile images so that the Lord might once again be their God. Thus purified, they would keep the Lord’s decrees and live there forever."},{"start_chapter":37,"start_verse":25,"end_chapter":37,"end_verse":28,"contents":"The covenant of peace, which is the blessing of covenant obedience, would be everlasting. The people’s earlier defilement had led to the Lord’s destruction of the Temple; now, their new purity would be matched by a renewed sanctuary, a Temple in which God could dwell in their midst forever. This final Temple would be the culmination of the success of God’s sanctifying program and demonstrate that the Lord is the one who makes Israel holy (see chs 40–48)."},{"start_chapter":38,"start_verse":1,"end_chapter":39,"end_verse":29,"contents":"The idyllic scene in ch 37 of the reunited nation living at peace in its own land gives way to gathering storm clouds in chs 38–39, a two-panel depiction of the assault, defeat, and disposal of the last enemy, Gog. Readers have long sought to identify Gog, who has sometimes been identified with Gyges, king of Lydia (about 680~644 BC). The biblical Gog, however, transcends historical categories; the text is less concerned with Gog’s identity than with the universal threat caused by the nations of the world. Yet even such an overwhelming force would be no serious threat to the restored people of God, for God was now dwelling in their midst. The symbolism of these chapters has much in common with psalms of Zion’s security (see, e.g., Pss 2, 46). If even a fearsome foe such as Gog could not separate God’s people from his protection, then surely nothing in all creation could do so. • Ezekiel’s account of Gog contains some of the characteristics of apocalyptic literature (see “Apocalyptic Literature” Theme Note)."},{"start_chapter":38,"start_verse":1,"end_chapter":38,"end_verse":6,"contents":"Gog would lead a coalition of seven nations from the four corners of the world. The numbers seven and four both symbolize completeness; here, they indicate an invincible alliance coming from far and near in all directions, from which there would be no escape. Magog, Meshech and Tubal, Gomer, and Beth-togarmah were located in the north, in Anatolia and the region beyond the Black Sea. Persia was to the east, Ethiopia to the south, and Libya to the west."},{"start_chapter":38,"start_verse":14,"end_chapter":38,"end_verse":16,"contents":"Israel would be rich, living in peace and experiencing the fruit of obedient trust in the Lord. However, such obedience does not eliminate the possibility of threatening circumstances (cp. John 16:33). The odds might have seemed stacked against Israel, but Gog had failed to reckon with the Lord. The Lord would use Gog and his allies as a tool for displaying his holiness in the sight of all the nations."},{"start_chapter":38,"start_verse":18,"end_chapter":38,"end_verse":20,"contents":"Instead of being the agent of divine wrath, Gog would be subject to it. The Lord would vent on Gog the jealousy and blazing anger he had earlier visited on Israel. The scene would be so frightening that even innocent bystanders would quake in terror. The earth would also tremble, destroying mountains, cliffs, and walls."},{"start_chapter":38,"start_verse":21,"end_chapter":38,"end_verse":23,"contents":"The sword . . . disease and bloodshed . . . torrential rain, hailstones, fire, and burning sulfur! Israel had experienced similar punishments before (see 13:13); now they were executed on Israel’s enemies. The Divine Warrior was once again defending his people."},{"start_chapter":39,"start_verse":3,"end_chapter":39,"end_verse":4,"contents":"This fearsome foe, Gog, would be left helpless; his corpse would be food for the vultures and wild animals, like that of Goliath (cp. 1 Sam 17:44-46)."},{"start_chapter":39,"start_verse":5,"end_chapter":39,"end_verse":6,"contents":"Gog’s homeland would be devastated, and the destruction his hordes and his allies who live safely had planned would return upon their own heads."},{"start_chapter":39,"start_verse":7,"end_chapter":39,"end_verse":8,"contents":"God’s judgment on Gog would make known his holy name. Just as he once judged his own people for their sins for the sake of his reputation (36:16-20), now he would defend his restored people and judge their enemies."},{"start_chapter":39,"start_verse":9,"end_chapter":39,"end_verse":10,"contents":"Israel would be called upon to act only after Gog had been completely defeated and destroyed. As in some of their great battles in the past, Israel would be able to watch the Lord act and then pick up the spoils (e.g., 2 Kgs 6:1–7:20; 2 Chr 20). Ironically, the only items to survive the fire from heaven that destroyed Gog’s army would be wooden weaponry that would now be fuel for Israel’s fires for seven years, a number that often represents completeness in the Old Testament. Those who came to plunder would become plunder. Their weapons would be unnecessary now that Israel’s last enemy had been destroyed."},{"start_chapter":39,"start_verse":12,"end_chapter":39,"end_verse":16,"contents":"The body count would be so large that everyone in Israel would be involved in the clean-up process for seven months. Even after that initial period, there would be a continuing need for teams of professional morticians to go through the land, tagging remains so that they could be properly disposed of."},{"start_chapter":39,"start_verse":18,"end_chapter":39,"end_verse":20,"contents":"In most sacrificial feasts, humans dined on slaughtered animals. This feast would allow animals to dine on slaughtered humans as though they were rams, lambs, goats, and bulls. This reversal of the great messianic banquet (Isa 25:6) features the enemies of God as the menu rather than as the invited guests."},{"start_chapter":39,"start_verse":21,"end_chapter":39,"end_verse":24,"contents":"The Lord will demonstrate his glory in all of history. He did so through the punishment of Israel during their exile because of their defilement and their sins."},{"start_chapter":39,"start_verse":25,"end_chapter":39,"end_verse":29,"contents":"God would also demonstrate his glory through his people’s return home from exile in the lands of their enemies. Once God had exhausted his wrath upon them for their sins, he would bring them home again and leave none of them behind. He would pour out his Spirit upon the people of Israel, transforming them in order to prevent a recurrence of their former situation. He would never again turn his face from them. His future favor on his people was assured (cp. Rom 8:31-39)."},{"start_chapter":40,"start_verse":1,"end_chapter":48,"end_verse":35,"contents":"The final section of Ezekiel focuses on the new Temple (40:1–47:12; see “Temple Architecture as Theology” Theme Note; “Temple Legislation as Theology” Theme Note) and on reallotment of the land (47:13–48:35; see “Israel’s Geography as Theology” Theme Note). The Temple at the center of the land was the capstone of God’s program of restoring and sanctifying his people so that he could once again dwell in their midst (see 37:28). This Temple, which Ezekiel saw in a vision, was never actually constructed."},{"start_chapter":40,"start_verse":1,"end_chapter":46,"end_verse":24,"contents":"The prophet’s tour of the new Temple proceeded from the outside of the Temple into its center. From the inside, he then returned outwards, ending up at the kitchens in the corners of the outer courtyard (46:19-24)."},{"start_chapter":40,"start_verse":5,"end_chapter":40,"end_verse":16,"contents":"The exact architectural details of the Temple are difficult to translate, but the overall impression of these gates was unmistakable. They were fortress-like constructions, designed to keep out unauthorized intruders. The eastern gateway is described first since it was the most important. It lay on the sacred east–west axis of the Temple along which the entire construction was oriented, and it was the gate through which the glory of the Lord would finally return (43:1-5)."},{"start_chapter":40,"start_verse":17,"end_chapter":40,"end_verse":19,"contents":"The outer courtyard provided a buffer zone around the holy things in the inner courtyard, and thirty rooms were built around the walls. The purpose of these rooms is not stated, nor are their dimensions precisely given, which heightens the contrast between the relatively less significant outer area of the Temple and the crucially important central holy space. These rooms were most likely to be used by the Levites for a variety of activities."},{"start_chapter":40,"start_verse":20,"end_chapter":40,"end_verse":27,"contents":"The gateway on the north and the south gateway are described in similar terms, though in less detail than the east gateway. They were also a formidable defensive barrier against the intrusion of any defilement. There is no west gateway to the outer or the inner court because the area behind the Temple proper was blocked off to prevent access from the rear."},{"start_chapter":40,"start_verse":28,"end_chapter":40,"end_verse":34,"contents":"The inner courtyard was separated from the outer courtyard by another series of substantial gateways, similar in scale and function to the gateways of the outer courtyard. These gateways had entry rooms facing outward toward the outer courtyard, rather than inward as at the outer gates."},{"start_chapter":40,"start_verse":35,"end_chapter":40,"end_verse":37,"contents":"There is no mention of a wall around the inner courtyard, perhaps because it was elevated from the outer court by another eight steps, perhaps a total of eight feet. If there were no wall around the inner court, there would be a free-standing archway that provided a clear view of activities in the inner area without any likelihood of accidental trespass into the realm of the sacred. Alternatively, reference to a wall around the inner court may simply have been omitted."},{"start_chapter":40,"start_verse":38,"end_chapter":40,"end_verse":43,"contents":"The sacrificial animals were slaughtered and prepared in rooms beside the gateways into the inner courtyard. This detail highlights the primary function of this new Temple as a place of sacrifice. The animals had to be washed and cut into pieces before they could be offered on the altar. • This new Temple in Ezekiel’s vision was radically focused on sacrifices that atoned for sin. By contrast, the Temple in Jerusalem was both a center for sacrifice and a house for prayer (see 1 Kgs 8:27-30, 52-53; Isa 56:6-8; Matt 21:13)."},{"start_chapter":40,"start_verse":48,"end_chapter":41,"end_verse":3,"contents":"The Temple was at the protected center of the Temple complex, adjacent to the inner court. It was located at the highest point of the complex, a further ten steps up from the inner court, which was itself eight steps above the outer court. Like Solomon’s Temple before it, this Temple was made up of three areas: the entry room, the sanctuary, and the Most Holy Place."},{"start_chapter":41,"start_verse":1,"end_chapter":41,"end_verse":2,"contents":"The Temple walls were 10½ feet thick, but here the gates could be replaced by a doorway because only the priests would have access to the surrounding inner court. The sanctuary was the most important space in the new Temple, so it is described in the most detail and with the most precise measurements."},{"start_chapter":41,"start_verse":3,"end_chapter":41,"end_verse":4,"contents":"The inner room was the Most Holy Place, the only square space within the Temple. It was reached by passing through three openings of decreasing width—access was increasingly restricted as one approached God. The entrance to the entry room was 24½ feet wide (40:48), and the doorway into the sanctuary was 17½ feet wide (41:2), but the entrance to the Most Holy Place was only 10½ feet wide. Ezekiel did not enter the Most Holy Place, but waited outside while the angel went in alone and measured it."},{"start_chapter":41,"start_verse":5,"end_chapter":41,"end_verse":26,"contents":"Around the Temple building were ninety side rooms on three levels. To the rear was a large building of unspecified purpose that might have protected the back of the Temple from unauthorized access. No one was permitted to approach God’s presence from behind. The side rooms might have been designed to store priestly clothing and equipment."},{"start_chapter":41,"start_verse":15,"end_chapter":41,"end_verse":20,"contents":"The Temple building was all paneled with wood and decorated with palm trees and cherubim. The cherubim were like those described in Ezekiel’s earlier visions of judgment (see 1:5-12; 10:2-14). But where those real-life cherubim had four faces, the carved two-dimensional models are depicted with only two faces—that of a lion, the highest of the wild animals, and a human, the pinnacle of the created order. Cherubim also adorned Solomon’s Temple (1 Kgs 6:32); they were traditional symbols of judgment that complemented the palm trees, traditional symbols of blessing."},{"start_chapter":42,"start_verse":3,"end_chapter":42,"end_verse":12,"contents":"The rooms for the priests at the sides of the building to the rear of the sanctuary were three levels high so that the priests could enter at the top from the inner court (42:12) and emerge at the bottom in the outer court (42:9). These rooms were boundary spaces for activities that the priests had to perform on the way into and out of the inner court."},{"start_chapter":42,"start_verse":13,"end_chapter":42,"end_verse":14,"contents":"The priests would store the sacred offerings and eat the most holy offerings in these rooms. The clothes that the priests wore while ministering in the Lord’s presence would be stored there, and the priests would put on other clothes because these clothes were holy. All of these regulations represent a significant increase in the care taken to separate the holy from the profane, as compared to the similar laws in Leviticus (cp. Lev 6)."},{"start_chapter":42,"start_verse":16,"end_chapter":42,"end_verse":20,"contents":"Having finished his tour of the inner courtyard, Ezekiel was shown the overall dimensions of the area. The whole complex was square, which denoted holiness and differentiated it from the less regular design of Solomon’s Temple and the Tabernacle before it, in which only the Most Holy Place was square. • The description of the Temple finished where it began, with a mention of a wall all around it (see 40:5); Ezekiel reminds us again that the purpose of that wall was to separate what was holy from what was common."},{"start_chapter":43,"start_verse":1,"end_chapter":43,"end_verse":4,"contents":"The sacred spaces described in the previous chapter were of no value as long as they were empty (cp. 37:7-8). To be effective, the Temple must be occupied by the glory of the God of Israel, which had departed from it in ch 10. Now the glory would return from the same direction in which it had left, the east. Unlike its slow, almost reluctant, departure, its return would be sudden, accompanied by the terrifying roar of rushing waters (see 1:24; Rev 1:15). As always, the prophet fell face down on the ground in response to this glory."},{"start_chapter":43,"start_verse":5,"end_chapter":43,"end_verse":7,"contents":"The Spirit then carried Ezekiel into the inner courtyard so that he could hear the Lord declare that the restored Temple was the palace in which his throne and his footstool were located, and that he would live . . . forever among the people of Israel. The identification of the Temple as God’s dwelling and the seat of his sovereignty was not new (see, e.g., 1 Sam 4:4). The Temple would now be God’s throne forever; never again would the sins of his people drive him away from his sanctuary."},{"start_chapter":43,"start_verse":7,"end_chapter":43,"end_verse":9,"contents":"If God were to remain with his people, standards would have to be raised and regulations enforced that would guard against the repetition of past abuses. Israel and their kings would not defile God’s holy name by their spiritual adultery with other gods or with relics of their kings who had died—memorial markers to dead kings—within the grounds of the Temple of the living God. There was no place for honoring human kings in the palace of the divine King. In the future, the proper hierarchy would be reestablished by removing the residence of the earthly ruler to a greater distance from the spiritual center of the land (see 45:7). Putting the earthly ruler in his proper place was a necessary precondition for God’s dwelling perpetually in his rightful place."},{"start_chapter":43,"start_verse":10,"end_chapter":43,"end_verse":11,"contents":"At this point, the prophet was given the rationale for the whole Temple vision. He was not the first person to receive the blueprint for a sanctuary from God (see Exod 25–40). This vision was not intended to spark a building project at some time in the future when God would return his people to their land, but to convey a message to the people of Ezekiel’s generation. As they would study its plan, Ezekiel’s hearers should be convicted of their sins and be ashamed of what they have done. The conviction of sin should be induced as they studied its entrances and exits, its decrees and laws, and the overall plan."},{"start_chapter":43,"start_verse":13,"end_chapter":43,"end_verse":16,"contents":"The holiness of the Temple area would be maintained by keeping sinners out and by the sacrificial system. The importance of this aspect of Temple life is made clear by the detailed description of the altar of the inner court, which was located at the center of the entire Temple complex. The altar shown to Ezekiel was almost three times as long and wide as the altar in front of the Tabernacle (see Exod 27:1-8)."},{"start_chapter":43,"start_verse":18,"end_chapter":43,"end_verse":21,"contents":"The new altar had to be consecrated before it was used. • On the first day, the blood of a young bull was to be applied to the extremities of the altar, the horns and corners, as a sin offering. The body of the sin offering was then burnt outside the sacred area, as with the Tabernacle (cp. Lev 4:11-12)."},{"start_chapter":43,"start_verse":26,"end_chapter":43,"end_verse":27,"contents":"These sin offerings properly set the Temple apart for holy use, so that the priests could once again sacrifice . . . the burnt offerings and peace offerings of the people. These offerings were necessary if the Lord were to accept his people."},{"start_chapter":44,"start_verse":1,"end_chapter":44,"end_verse":31,"contents":"Now that the glory of the Lord had returned to the Temple, questions of access were critical. Who could approach this holy God? Like ch 43, this chapter is concerned with the Temple’s entrances and exits, as well as the duties and procedures associated with its use."},{"start_chapter":44,"start_verse":6,"end_chapter":44,"end_verse":8,"contents":"The people of Israel were called rebels because they had failed to control access to the sanctuary in the past; they had hired uncircumcised foreigners to come into the sanctuary and probably employed them as Temple guards and gatekeepers. This task should not have been delegated to foreigners; it should have been performed by the Levites, whom the Lord had assigned to perform it (cp. 44:10)."},{"start_chapter":44,"start_verse":12,"end_chapter":44,"end_verse":14,"contents":"The Levites had encouraged . . . Israel to fall into deep sin by abandoning the Lord and worshiping idols. One of the consequences of that sin was that they could no longer enter the inner court of the Temple like the priests. However, by God’s grace, they would still have a significant ministry in serving the people and slaughtering their sacrifices. • The people as a whole were placed at a greater distance from God because of their idolatry. Prior to the Exile they would have slaughtered their own sacrifices (see Lev 1:5, 11); now they must hand them over to the Levites to be slaughtered on their behalf."},{"start_chapter":44,"start_verse":15,"end_chapter":44,"end_verse":16,"contents":"In contrast to the Levites and the people who abandoned the Lord for idols, the Levitical priests of the family of Zadok remained faithful to the Lord. Zadok was the high priest of Solomon’s day. His family’s reward was renewed access to the inner courtyard, where they were to perform the crucial sacrificial rituals nearer to the presence of God. A repeated theme in these chapters is that those who were faithful in the past would be rewarded with closer access to God and greater privilege in his presence, while those who were unfaithful would be kept at a greater distance."},{"start_chapter":44,"start_verse":17,"end_chapter":44,"end_verse":19,"contents":"The privileged access of the priests carried heightened responsibilities for holiness. Their behavior was far more restricted than that of the people in general. They had to wear linen rather than wool so that their bodies would not be defiled by sweat (see study note on 36:17), and they were to maintain a separate wardrobe of sacred garments. • endanger . . . by transmitting holiness to them: Holiness was a contagious quality that could be conveyed to anything with which it came into contact. The problem with this is that if a sacred object transmitted holiness to a profane object or person, there could be fatal consequences (cp. Lev 10:1-3; 1 Sam 6:19; 2 Sam 6:6-7)."},{"start_chapter":44,"start_verse":20,"end_chapter":44,"end_verse":27,"contents":"The priests were to avoid contact with death, either by being in the presence of a dead person or through the ritual mourning practices in which they would shave their heads or let their hair grow completely free. They must not drink wine before entering the inner courtyard to avoid the risk of potentially fatal alcohol-induced errors (see Lev 10:9). The priests were restricted in marriage to virgins of Israel or to widows of the priests to ensure the continuing purity of the priestly line. In all of these ways, the priests were to model the radical distinction between holy and common and between the ceremonially clean and unclean for the people."},{"start_chapter":44,"start_verse":28,"end_chapter":44,"end_verse":30,"contents":"Because the priests belonged to the Lord and were provided for through a share of the sacrificial offerings of the Temple, they would not have any property or possession of land. The Lord was their inheritance, and their temporal needs were to be supplied by the firstfruits of the people’s harvests and the various offerings made at the Temple."},{"start_chapter":45,"start_verse":1,"end_chapter":45,"end_verse":8,"contents":"The division of the restored Promised Land among the tribes is described in detail in chs 47–48, but the central sacred section is described here because it included the area set aside for the priests to live in. Regaining a share in the land was a pressing concern for the exiles at a time when they had none. Ezekiel’s interest, however, was not simply in promising that the land would be divided among them in a fair way. He wanted to remind them of what the Promised Land was about in the first place. It was a land in which God would dwell among his people. At the outset, therefore, the central part of the land would be assigned to the Lord as his holy portion. The main purpose of this was to provide a zone of holiness and protection around the Temple."},{"start_chapter":45,"start_verse":3,"end_chapter":45,"end_verse":4,"contents":"Within this holy portion, the Temple complex would form the Most Holy Place at the heart of a sacred square. Just as the Most Holy Place in the Temple was protected by an inner court that only the priests could enter, the Temple complex was surrounded by a section reserved only for priests."},{"start_chapter":45,"start_verse":5,"end_chapter":45,"end_verse":6,"contents":"To the north of this priestly strip was an area reserved for the Levites; to the south (48:15), the city was located on a half-size strip. The result was a square that was 81/3 miles on a side."},{"start_chapter":45,"start_verse":8,"end_chapter":45,"end_verse":9,"contents":"One tangible expression of the Lord’s kingly rule was that he distributed the land to the prince as well as to the people. The prince was assigned a large enough piece of his own land to meet his needs and to allow him to support the ministry of the Temple without having to oppress and rob the people."},{"start_chapter":45,"start_verse":10,"end_chapter":45,"end_verse":12,"contents":"When the prince gathered the offerings of the people for the Temple (see 45:13-17), he was not to adjust the scales so that he profited from the difference between what he took in from the people and what he gave out for the ministry of the Temple."},{"start_chapter":45,"start_verse":13,"end_chapter":45,"end_verse":17,"contents":"The people were to provide for the regular daily offerings that will make atonement at the new Temple by means of a tax paid to the prince. The prince was to provide all of the offerings for special occasions, such as the religious festivals, the new moon celebrations, and the Sabbath days. Both the regular daily offerings and the special festival offerings functioned to purify the people of Israel, making them right with the Lord."},{"start_chapter":45,"start_verse":21,"end_chapter":45,"end_verse":25,"contents":"Like the offerings, the annual festivals in the new Temple had a purifying purpose. Instead of the three distinctive festivals of the Mosaic order (the feasts of Passover, Harvest, and Shelters), there were now only two virtually identical festivals, Passover and Shelters, spaced six months apart. The Passover feast still took place on the fourteenth day of the first month and resembled the earlier festival in many ways, though the number of sacrificial offerings was significantly higher than those prescribed in Num 28. The Festival of Shelters, however, is not even explicitly named in the Hebrew text and has lost anything distinctive about its celebration except for the provision that the prince will provide the same sacrifices as for the Passover. It still occurs in the seventh month. The land’s constant purification from sin emerges as a central theme."},{"start_chapter":46,"start_verse":1,"end_chapter":46,"end_verse":15,"contents":"Ezekiel continued to outline the responsibilities of the prince at the special celebrations by specifying his duties on Sabbath days and at new moon celebrations. The prince would be the representative worshiper on behalf of the people. He would pass through the Temple in procession with them, and he would also be uniquely able to approach the realm of the sacred on their behalf."},{"start_chapter":46,"start_verse":9,"end_chapter":46,"end_verse":10,"contents":"During religious festivals, the people were to present themselves before the Lord by proceeding through the Temple from north to south or vice versa, with the prince in their midst. Their motion was to follow the profane north–south axis rather than the sacred east–west axis along which the priests’ activities took place."},{"start_chapter":46,"start_verse":16,"end_chapter":46,"end_verse":18,"contents":"Because the land assigned to the prince was the Lord’s gift to him and to his family, he could not give it permanently to one of his servants. Each Year of Jubilee, the fiftieth year when all land in Israel reverted to its original family owners, this land would revert to the crown. This provision was intended to remove the temptation for the king to acquire more and more land with which to reward his faithful servants, resulting in less land for the ordinary people. The land belonged to the Lord, and he divided it among his people. No one, not even the king, was permitted to tamper with the people’s inheritance."},{"start_chapter":46,"start_verse":19,"end_chapter":46,"end_verse":24,"contents":"The vision of the Temple proper (chs 40–46) concludes with a return to the point at which the tour began. The prophet began his tour in the outer court, and having traveled to the center and back out again twice, he completed it at the edges of the outer court, in the kitchens where the various sacrifices offered by the people were to be cooked. Some sacrifices were burned whole on the altar, while others were only partially burned, with portions being returned so that the worshiper could feast with his family in the Lord’s presence."},{"start_chapter":47,"start_verse":1,"end_chapter":47,"end_verse":12,"contents":"Once the Temple was restored to its central place among God’s people, its beneficial influence, pictured here as a river, would spread outward, transforming death to life."},{"start_chapter":47,"start_verse":3,"end_chapter":47,"end_verse":5,"contents":"At first, the stream was a mere trickle coming out from the gate of the Temple, but as it flowed out it became deeper and deeper until it was too deep to walk through. The exiles needed to be reminded that God often works from small beginnings that miraculously blossom into full flower."},{"start_chapter":47,"start_verse":6,"end_chapter":47,"end_verse":9,"contents":"The river grew as it went, bringing life to everything it touched, even the salty waters of the Dead Sea."},{"start_chapter":47,"start_verse":13,"end_chapter":48,"end_verse":35,"contents":"The book of Ezekiel’s final section charts the boundaries and the distribution of the land. Theology is expressed here through geography; issues of space, access, and position relative to the Temple are of crucial significance."},{"start_chapter":47,"start_verse":15,"end_chapter":47,"end_verse":20,"contents":"The boundaries of the new Promised Land were approximately those assigned in Num 34:1-12, from Lebo-hamath in the north to the Brook of Egypt in the south, and from the Mediterranean in the west to the Jordan River in the east. The people would now possess the entirety of this promised land, something they had never before done. Absent from this land was Transjordan, the area east of the Jordan River, which was the historic home of Reuben, Gad, and half of the tribe of Manasseh. It lay outside the boundaries promised to Moses and was therefore not part of the original promise, although historically many Israelites had lived there."},{"start_chapter":47,"start_verse":21,"end_chapter":47,"end_verse":23,"contents":"The land within these boundaries was to be divided among the tribes of Israel. Instead of the divided preexilic kingdoms, the future would see a single kingdom formed from the diverse unity of the twelve tribes and incorporating even resident foreigners and their families, provided that they had joined Israel as converts. These people were to receive an allotment, just like the native-born Israelites, and they could pass this inheritance on to their children. In view of the significance of the land to Ezekiel, this was a high privilege."},{"start_chapter":48,"start_verse":1,"end_chapter":48,"end_verse":8,"contents":"The land assigned to the tribes was arranged in strips running east to west through the land, rather than piecemeal as it was before the Exile. This was more than simply a way of ensuring that each tribe received equal access to the various resources of the land. It aligned the land with the sacred east–west axis that was so prominent in the Temple. As in the Temple, the size and shape of the central areas were clearly defined, while those on the margins were less closely determined (see study note on 40:17-19). The four tribes most distant from the central sacred section (Dan, Asher, Naphtali, and Gad), and therefore in the least privileged position, were descended from the four sons of Jacob by Zilpah and Bilhah, the maidservants of his wives, Leah and Rachel. The eight sons from Leah and Rachel would receive the strips immediately north and south of the holy portion that contained the Temple. Immediately next to the holy portion were the tribes of Benjamin and Judah, which historically surrounded Jerusalem. Judah received the strip immediately to the north of the holy portion, as if to stress that whereas in the past the land had been divided into north and south—Israel and Judah—now Judah would be in the north."},{"start_chapter":48,"start_verse":9,"end_chapter":48,"end_verse":14,"contents":"The holy portion was not quite at the exact center of the land; there were seven tribal strips to the north and only five to the south of it. While it was still not exactly central geographically, the spiritual center had apparently moved a significant distance north from where it used to be in Jerusalem. • The importance of the holy portion set aside for the Lord’s Temple is underlined by the detailed description of its dimensions and makeup, in contrast with the brevity of the descriptions of the tribal allocations. This special portion was devoted to God and was never to be sold or traded or used by others. It was made up of strips that ran from east to west and were allocated to the Levites, the priests, and the city. The area for the ordained priests immediately surrounded the Temple and protected it from anything unholy. It was flanked by an area to the north for the Levites."},{"start_chapter":48,"start_verse":15,"end_chapter":48,"end_verse":20,"contents":"To the south was a narrower strip for public use where the city was located. The overall shape of the central area was thus a square. The city was a visible symbol and focus of unity for the twelve tribes, and home to residents from the various tribes."},{"start_chapter":48,"start_verse":21,"end_chapter":48,"end_verse":29,"contents":"The area filling out the rest of the central portion to the east and west of the holy square was assigned to the prince. The prince was more important than the rest of the laity, but he was below the priests and Levites. The same message was delivered by the architecture of the Temple complex."},{"start_chapter":48,"start_verse":30,"end_chapter":48,"end_verse":31,"contents":"At the end of the book, Ezekiel focuses attention on the exits to the city, highlighting once again the theme of access that runs throughout chs 40–48. Like the Temple, the city was a measured square with twelve gates, one for each of the tribes, which established a focus of tribal unity. Unusually, the three most important gates, named for Reuben (the oldest of the sons of Israel), Judah (the royal tribe), and Levi (the priestly tribe), faced north rather than east. This is because the most important direction was northward toward the Temple, the center of the renewed land. South was the second most important side because it was on the axis that pointed toward the Temple."},{"start_chapter":48,"start_verse":32,"end_chapter":48,"end_verse":34,"contents":"The east-facing gates were assigned to the children of Rachel—Joseph, Benjamin, and (through her maidservant) Dan. The south . . . gates were assigned to Simeon, Issachar, and Zebulun, Leah’s sons, whose lands would be south of the holy square. The least favored west . . . gates were assigned to the descendants of the maidservants Bilhah and Zilpah, Gad, Asher, and Naphtali."}]}