A Study of Ezekiel: Pt. 3
In this post I’d like to look into the vast area of Ezekiel 4 -24, the judgement against Judah and Jerusalem.
Chapter 4: Ezekiel lies on his side before a city carved on a brick in mock siege of Israel for 390 days and 40 days for Judah, eating a barley cake cooked over dung and a measure of water.
Chapter 5: Ezekiel must shave his hair and beard with a sword, then weigh it into thirds. Third burnt in fire in the city, a third struck with sword around the city and a third scattered to the wind.
“A third part of you shall die of pestilence and be consumed with famine in your midst; a third part shall fall by the sword all around you; and a third part I will scatter to all the winds and will unsheathe the sword after them.” Eze5:12
Chapter 6: Ezekial prophecies to the mountains, valleys and ravines “their slain lie among their idols” 6:13
Chapter 7: Ezekiel must say that the end has come. “According to their way I will do to them, and according to their judgments I will judge them, and they shall know that I am the LORD.”27
Chapter 8: We are again given a timeframe. (remember last Part…The 5th day, fourth month in the year 584 BC, the 13th year in exile for Ezekiel as compared to King Jehoiachin’s 5th year in exile. Remember Ezekiel was exiled in 597 BC and Jehoiachin was exiled in 588 BC.) In the sixth year (Either 6th Year of Jehoiachin’s exile 583 BC or the 6th year of Ezekiels exile in 591BC but I believe it the former, since Ezekiel refers to the Cherubim he already saw by the Chebar River which happened in 584BC), in the sixth month, on the fifth day of the month (8:1) Here Ezekiel is taken to the temple in Jerusalem in a vision where the men turn to worship the Sun instead of YahWeh.
Chapter 9: A man in linen (An Angel?) goes through the city and marks each forehead of people who are grieved by the abominations against God. Following him are 6 other men (angels?) who slay all without the mark. This reminds me very much of the Passover Ritual that protected the innocent from the Destroyer. Again we are told this wrath is a turning of their sin back on themselves.
Chapter 10: The man in linen takes coals from between the 4 Cherubim to scatter over the city. Ezekiel sees the 4 creatures again and their wheels, with the same description as before except he calls the face of the ox, the face of the cherub this time. Here God exits the temple above the Cherubim at the east gate.
Chapter 11: Ezekiel prohpecies against Jaazaniah the son of Azzur, and Pelatiah the son of Benaiah, princes of the people. Pelatiah dies and Ezekiel cries out for Israel. Go declares a time will come when the people return and “And I will give them one heart, and a new spirit I will put within them. I will remove the heart of stone from their flesh and give them a heart of flesh,” once their exile is complete
Chapter 12: Ezekiel must act out traveling to exile, eating in anxiety and fear and tell them the time is nearer than they think
Chapter 13: God is angry with the false prophets and their smearing of the walls with white wash. With false prophetesses and their magic wristbands and soul hunting and lying.
Chapter 14: Elders are reproved for they “have taken their idols into their hearts, and set the stumbling block of their iniquity before their faces. Should I indeed let myself be consulted by them?” rather God “will set my face against that man” God goes on to extol Noah, Daniel, and Job for their righteousness and inability to effect change in a wicked land.
Chapter 15: the inhabitants of Jerusalem likened to a vines wood that is fuel for fire
Chapter 16: Jerusalem’s beauty…”was perfect through the splendor that I had bestowed on you, declares the Lord GOD. But you trusted in your beauty and played the whoreb because of your renown” Sacrificing her children and becoming an insatiable whore. A sick heart. Paying to be prostituted. This may be the most staggering chapter of betrayal and God’s unfailing love and redemption and restoration ever.
Chapter 17: A riddle about trees and plants concerning nations and politics and a future new tree
Chapter 18: The soul who sins shall die. The principle of reaping and sowing is seen here. Only the guilty is liable to guilt. God desires none to die
CHapter 19: Ezekiels Lamentation of lions and vines
Chapter 20: “In the seventh year 582 BC (possibly), in the fifth month, on the tenth day of the month, certain of the elders of Israel came to inquire of the LORD, and sat before me.” Ezekiel must encourage the elders to put away their idols for good and stop offering their children and gifts to idols. Ezekiel prophecies to the Forest of the Negev and also complains that he’s being labelled one who makes up stories.
Chapter 21: Ezekiel prophecies against the sanctuaries in Jerusalem, with groaning and a sword. The King od Babylon uses divination to incur Jerusalem’s guilt on Jerusalem. God speaks of sins being remembered becasue they aren’t covered (no atonement). Ezekiel prophesies against the Ammorites.
Chapter 22: “guilty by the blood that you have shed, and defiled by the idols that you have made, and you have brought your days near, the appointed time ofa your years has come…. the house of Israel is to be gathered to be consumed by fire…I sought for a man among them who should build up the wall and stand in the breach before me for the land, that I should not destroy it, but I found none.31Therefore I have poured out my indignation upon them. I have consumed them with the fire of my wrath. I have returned their way upon their heads, declares the Lord GOD.”
Chapter 23: Judah and Samaria judged by the nations
“They (Babylon, Chaldea, Assyria) shall set themselves against you on every side with buckler, shield, and helmet; and I will commit the judgment to them, and they shall judge you according to their judgments. 25And I will direct my jealousy against you, that they may deal with you in fury.”
Chapter 24: In the ninth year 580 BC?, in the tenth month, on the tenth day of the month, Babylon sieges Jerusalem and Ezekiel tells a parable of the cookpot. Ezekiel’s wife dies and he isn’t to mourn her properly. Ezekiel is a sign for them in how he can’t mourn his wife as well as when he is no longer mute.
This concludes Ezekiels propheicies toward Judah and Jerusalem. Here they are just overviews of the chapter but what’s nice about an overview is that it’s easier to see themes, motiffs, or strings of connection. See the judgements againts the nations in the Part 4 post.