Week 44, October 27–November 2: Ezekiel 1–19

• Sun      10/27   Ezek 1–2
• Mon     10/28   Ezek 3–5
• Tue      10/29   Ezek 6–8
• Wed     10/30   Ezek 9–10
• Thu      10/31   Ezek 11–13
• Fri        11/1     Ezek 14–16
• Sat       11/2     Ezek 17–19

Lamentations, which we read at the end of last week’s reading, is a pessimistic little book nestled between Jeremiah and Ezekiel in our Bibles. In the Hebrew Bible order of books, Lamentations is moved to a place in the third section, the Writings (The first two sections are the Law/Torah and Prophets), and Ezekiel follows immediately after Jeremiah. A couple details about the literary design of Lamentations help us see its message, which also helps set the tone for Ezekiel.

Lamentations is written in an acrostic pattern. In the first three chapters, the first line of each verse begins with successive letters of the Hebrew alphabet. Chapter 4 is also an acrostic chapter, but in this chapter, each letter of the alphabet has a triplet of verses; 66 verses with 3 verses for each successive letter of the 22-letter Hebrew alphabet. The final chapter is also 22 verses, but there is no acrostic pattern. It could be said that this acrostic design of Lamentations enhances the book’s expression of sadness and disorientation. The book moves from order to disorder in a way that literarily reflects its foreboding message of chaos and judgement, which culminates in a plea for God’s restoration and renewal, “unless you have utterly rejected us, and you remain exceedingly angry with us.” (Lam. 5:22).

In the middle of the book, chapter 3 contains some of the most well-known biblical statements of the Lord’s faithfulness. God is judging his people justly for their sin, but his steadfast love never ceases, his mercies never come to an end. Despite the increasingly horrible situation, the author (maybe Jeremiah, see 2 Chron. 35:25) still hopes in the Lord. “The Lord is good to those who wait for him,” he says. “It is good that one should wait quietly for the salvation of the Lord.” (Lam 3:25–26). Clinging to this truth, the book then returns to its tone of lament. This mixture of grief and judgement, on the one hand, with a glimmer of hope in God’s faithfulness, on the other hand, is a common tension throughout the OT, especially in the Prophets. We see this in Ezekiel as well.

Ezekiel was a prophet and a priest who was called by God to speak for him to the people of Israel and Judah during the time of their exile. Ezekiel was taken from Judah in one of the earlier waves of deportation to Babylon, sometime before the destruction of Jerusalem and the final stage of Babylonian exile. The book begins in the fifth year of the Judahite king Jehoiachin’s exile (see 1 Kgs. 12–15) and with Ezekiel’s firsthand account of a vision of God’s glorious presence.

The genre of literature here is referred to as apocalyptic, which means it depicts realities that could only have been known by God’s own revelation. We see similar depictions in Daniel and the book of Revelation. Apocalyptic literature is unusual, mysterious, even outlandish. It paints fantastic pictures of heavenly scenes, using imagery that is hard to imagine. In fact, this is the point of such imagery. The otherworldly creatures, and especially the visions of the Lord himself, are things that cannot be fully captured using the categories of human language. When Ezekiel, or Daniel or John, sees these revelatory sights, they do the best they can to communicate what they saw using limited vocabulary of creatures, body parts, and other objects human minds can grasp. We are meant to read this and understand that something is being described that cannot be fully described. This conveys a glorious revelation, and it should elicit a sense of wonder and awe as we read.

Within this apocalyptic framing to open the book, we read Ezekiel’s prophetic message of judgement on the people of Israel. God calls Ezekiel to speak for him to the “people of Israel, to nations of rebels… a rebellious house,” whether or not they will listen to his words (Ezek. 2:1–7). He is to say to them, “Thus says the Lord,” and then proclaim whatever message God gives him. And even before he goes and speaks these words from the Lord, God tells him they will not listen to Ezekiel, for they are not willing to listen to God, “because all the house of Israel have a hard forehead and a stubborn heart.” (3:4–7)

Nevertheless, the Lord will strengthen his prophet to continue speaking. He has made him a watchman to call out warning and to urge the people to repent. Ezekiel’s unrelenting message from the Lord is that judgement is coming, Jerusalem’s destruction is imminent, and a full exile from the land is an impending and unstoppable reality.

As we read through this book it can be discouraging. Much of it is about judgement and God’s righteous wrath in response to the idolatry and sin of his people. We may be tempted to respond by relegating Ezekiel (and perhaps other OT books) to a status of less value or less relevance to us as Christians. We could find ourselves slipping subtly into a view that sees Ezekiel as a book written for another people back then that has little bearing on my life today, especially now that we live under the New Covenant, after Jesus’ first coming. But that would not be consistent with what we believe about the Bible, with the NT claim that all Scripture is God’s word and profitable for our instruction and edification (2 Tim. 3:16).

Ezekiel was a prophet to Israel and Judah, and the biblical book by his name includes God’s message through Ezekiel to the people of Israel and Judah. But the biblical book of Ezekiel is Christian Scripture too, and it is God’s inspired message to us today too. True, we are not under the old covenant, accountable to the Mosaic law and its stipulations. But the old covenant is not the same as the Old Testament. The message of the Old Testament is a New Covenant message, and we see that in Ezekiel as clearly as in any other Old Testament book. This is especially emphasized in next week’s reading (chapters 36–37), but we see some themes of New Covenant hope in this week’s reading too (e.g. 11:17–20; 16:59–63).

The eternal God of the universe, who revealed himself in visions to Ezekiel, is not constrained by time and he does not change with time. The message Ezekiel the prophet was to proclaim to the rebellious people of Israel and Judah was a particular message for a particular people in that time, but the message of the book of Ezekiel is a timeless message that is just as much for us now as it was for the first readers. As we read Ezekiel, let us read with gratefulness for the New Covenant it promises, with hearts softened by the Spirit to receive the book’s prophetic warnings and apply them to our hearts and lives.

Variations of the phrase, “so they will know that I am the Lord (Yahweh)” occur all throughout Ezekiel. This mysterious prophetic book helps us to see who the Lord. It reveals to us what makes his furious anger stir and his righteous judgement come down, and it shows us how, despite his people’s hard-hearted sin against him, his faithfulness to his covenant promises never fails.